Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate the recycling rate for waste from British households will exceed the former EU target of 50 per cent; and whether, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, they have dropped that target.

The Government is committed to exceeding the 50% target for recycling household waste and this target remains in legislation. The Government has not prepared an estimate of when the UK will exceed this target. The latest UK recycling rate published in March 2020 showed that the UK recycled 45% of household waste in 2018.

The Government has also committed to recycle 65% of municipal waste in England by 2035 and set out measures to achieve this target in the Resources and Waste Strategy and the Environment Bill.