To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Deposited Papers
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Jan. 09 2008

Source Page: Tables showing a) total municipal solid waste (MSW) sent for recycling, composted or reuse by local authorities in England and total waste collected for recycling but rejected for 2006/07 and b) recycling destinations reported by local authorities to WasteDataFlow during 2006/7. 103 p.
Document: DEP2008-0043.xls (Excel)

Found: Tables showing a) total municipal solid waste (MSW) sent for recycling, composted or reuse by local authorities


Written Question
Recycling
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure high recycling rates under the Simpler Recycling policy; and how such rates will be assessed to give consumers confidence.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Simpler Recycling will aim to make recycling clearer and more consistent across England. All household and non-household premises (such as businesses, schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core groups: metal; glass; plastic; paper and card; food waste; garden waste (household only). Furthermore, packaging producers will be required to label packaging as ‘Recycle’ or ‘Do Not Recycle’ adopting a single label format which incorporates the Recycle Now symbol.


Written Question
Plastics: Recycling
Wednesday 24th April 2024

Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the size of the global market for recycled rigid plastics; and what steps his Department is taking to develop (a) recycling capabilities of local authorities and (b) the global market for recycled rigid plastics.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste (including plastic) - by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – to keep plastic in circulation for longer. We will do this by making producers more responsible for the plastic they make with our incoming Collection and Packaging Reforms.

Simpler Recycling will make recycling clearer and more consistent across England. Local authorities will be required to collect the same materials from households in the following core groups: metal; glass; plastic: paper and card; food waste; garden waste by March 2026 (with plastic film collections being introduced by March 2027). This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, ensuring there is more recycled material in the products we buy, and the UK recycling industry will grow. As well as Simpler Recycling, we are introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and a Deposit Return Scheme.

To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, a tax of over £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. We have since increased the tax to £217.85 per tonne and will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.

There is a growing global demand for recycled plastics, including recycled rigid plastics. For example, IMARC estimates the size of the global plastic recycling market in 2023 to be $42bn and projects it to grow to $62bn by 2032.

With 35% plastic content, the Government earlier this year consulted on measures to reduce the 155,000 tonnes of small electricals that are thrown in the bin annually. The government response will be published in due course.


Departmental Publication (News and Communications)
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

May. 09 2024

Source Page: Simpler bin collections for England to boost recycling
Document: Simpler bin collections for England to boost recycling (webpage)

Found: Simpler bin collections for England to boost recycling


Westminster Hall
Fly-tipping - Tue 06 Feb 2024
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Mentions:
1: Sarah Jones (Lab - Croydon Central) We have seen, probably across the country, many areas where recycling centres have closed. - Speech Link
2: Sarah Dyke (LD - Somerton and Frome) My point was that local councils are being forced to close household waste and recycling centres because - Speech Link
3: Robbie Moore (Con - Keighley) Closing household waste and recycling centres should be an absolute last resort, and it is frustrating - Speech Link


Scottish Parliament Debate - Committee
Aggregates Tax and Devolved Taxes Administration (Scotland) Bill - Tue 05 Mar 2024

Mentions:
1: None I have members who are clearly involved in recycling. - Speech Link
2: None The paper mentions that if cross-border arrangements became separated and divorced from what the rest - Speech Link
3: Marra, Michael (Lab - North East Scotland) However, at the same time, we want to maximise the recycling rate. - Speech Link
4: None That is not just the recycling market but the primary aggregate market. - Speech Link


Written Question
Packaging: Recycling
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking through Simpler Recycling to help ensure that collected packaging waste is recycled.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Through Simpler Recycling, all household and non-household premises (such as businesses, schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core groups: metal; glass; plastic: paper and card; food waste; garden waste (household only). By making recycling clearer and easier, we will help reduce contamination, better preserve material value and help to grow demand for recyclables.

Furthermore, under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, local authorities will receive payments for managing recyclable packaging waste, supporting costs associated with upgrading services and sorting infrastructure and incentivising them to deliver efficient and effective services. Under EPR, higher fees can be charged to producers for packaging that is less recyclable, incentivising them to choose readily recyclable packaging.


Deposited Papers

Mar. 29 2010

Source Page: Waste management inspection report for Wolverhampton City Council. 23 p.
Document: DEP2010-0936.pdf (PDF)

Found: Although a paper recycling scheme is available within the civic centre, the scheme has a low profile


Written Question
Domestic Waste: Recycling
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Simpler Recycling policy takes into account the expectations of consumers about what happens to items they send for recycling.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In October 2020, we amended the Environmental (England and Wales) Permitting Regulations 2016 to include a permit condition for landfill and incineration operators, meaning they cannot accept separately collected paper, metal, glass or plastic for landfill or incineration unless it has gone through some form of treatment process first and is the best environmental outcome.

Under the Environment Act 2021, recyclable household waste must be collected separately from other household waste and must be collected for recycling or composting.


Scottish Parliament Written Question
S6W-26119
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to tackle any issues associated with the reported rise in so-called fast fashion.

Answered by Slater, Lorna - Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity

Scottish Ministers are aware of the environmental impacts of so-called fast fashion. Information and advice for consumers on tackling fast fashion is provided by Zero Waste Scotland https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/how-fast-fashion-failing-environment

We recognise the need for a strategic approach to textiles, from production and consumption, through to recycling and end-of-life management, as set out in our draft Circular Economy & Waste Route Map scotlands-circular-economy-waste-route-map-2030-consultation.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Textiles are being considered as one of the priority products for our product stewardship plan, which would help break up the fast fashion cycle by supporting the development of circular supply chains in Scotland and reducing the quantity of clothing that needs to be produced from virgin material. Alongside that, the proposed new Code of Practice for household recycling will consider ways to prevent materials like textiles and clothing going to disposal.