The Chinese Government is set to ban all imports of solid waste from 2021, the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has learned.
According to the BIR’s contacts in China, the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced on 30 June in a press conference that it would no longer accept and approve import applications for solid waste from 2021.
Waste management company Biffa has lost an appeal against a guilty verdict handed down in June 2019 for being in breach of waste export regulations after attempting to export contaminated waste to China.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the government to accelerate the transition to a circular economy as part of a Covid-19 recovery plan that prioritises the climate crisis, reiterating its call for a ban on biodegradable waste to landfill by 2025.
A group of 119 experts and scientists have signed a statement reassuring the public that reusable containers are safe to use during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided hygiene measures are followed.
The risk posed to the waste and resources sector by Brexit has increased over the last few months, with the UK falling further behind EU standards and ambition, according to Greener UK’s latest Brexit Risk Tracker.
Chinese customs authorities have intercepted over 500,000 tonnes of illegal waste under the ‘Blue Sky 2020’ campaign and plan to continue the crackdown on illicit domestic and foreign waste imports.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) are working with packaging compliance company Valpak to update the PackFlow material reports in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government has told local authorities that there will be no flexibility in the recyclable materials that they will be required to collect from households under collections consistency plans, but there may be room for manoeuvre on how those materials are collected.
Almost half of councils have plans to reopen their Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) within the next two weeks, according to the latest Covid-19 local authority impacts survey, while recycling collections have experienced a slight increase in disruption.
The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) has found evidence that some householders have been disposing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through their household recycling.
Garden and bulky waste services remain disrupted and more Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) close while core collections services continue to be maintained, according to the latest Covid-19 local authority impacts survey.
Robert Jenrick, the Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has said that local authorities will be asked to “plan the organised opening” of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in the coming weeks.
Local authorities are planning for a “controlled and consistent” reopening of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) once the government publishes its strategy for exiting the Covid-19 lockdown, according to the latest ADEPT local authority impact survey.
Cardiff Council has urged residents to continue to separate recyclables at the kerbside despite announcing it had taken the “temporary measure” to send recyclables for incineration during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Local authorities have reported large increases in household waste arisings during the Covid-19 outbreak and huge falls in commercial waste arisings, according to an ADEPT survey.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has released guidance to local authorities on prioritising waste collection services during the coronavirus outbreak.
The first results from an ADEPT online survey for English local authorities to establish the impact of Covid-19 on waste and recycling services show the majority of services are continuing, but certain services such as garden and bulky waste collections have been hard hit.
The Recycling Association has asked Defra to ensure that household recycling collections are maintained to maintain sufficient availability of material for food and medical supply packaging.
