UK Central Government

Incinerator at night
Extend landfill tax to incinerator emissions, says white paper

The UK should price emissions from waste disposal, including landfill and incineration, to help reach the country’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to a new white paper by the Zero Carbon Campaign released on Monday (21 September).

Viridor truck
Viridor survey reveals public want producers to pay for recycling

64 per cent of UK residents would like to see manufacturers pay for recycling instead of local authorities, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by UK waste management company Viridor.

Houses of parliament
Green Alliance to act as secretariat for parliamentary environment group

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Environment has announced a new secretariat and calendar of events ahead of 2021.

Parliamentary group report calls for sustainable fashion action
Parliamentary group report calls for sustainable fashion action
By
Rob Cole
| 15 September 2020 |
Developing sustainable fabrics, boosting textile recycling and bringing textile manufacturing jobs back to the UK are some of the key recommendations put forward in a new parliamentary report compiled by behaviour change charity Hubbub on sustainable fashion.
Janet and Ken Hancock receive food delivery
Hubbub launches 'Greenprint' manifesto for UK’s Covid-19 recovery
By
Fiona Binns
| 10 September 2020 |
Behaviour change charity Hubbub has launched its Greenprint for a Better Britain plan to call for a sustainable Covid-19 recovery with policy recommendations targeting food waste, transport, textiles and recycling.
Smoke coming from incinerator chimney
Legal challenge launched over exclusion of EfW from Emissions Trading Scheme
By
Fiona Binns
| 10 September 2020 |
A legal challenge has been launched by an environmental campaigner against the UK Government on the grounds that it has unlawfully left out Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities from its post-Brexit Emissions Trading Scheme
Oil rig
Oil industry threatened by projected fall in plastic demand
By
Rob Cole
| 4 September 2020 |
A new report by think tank Carbon Tracker and consultancy SYSTEMIQ has found that global efforts to tackle climate change and plastic waste could result in £300 billion of stranded petrochemical assets for the oil industry.
Defra to extend plastic bag charge in England
Defra to extend plastic bag charge in England
By
Rob Cole
| 1 September 2020 |
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that it will be extending the plastic bag charge in England to all retailers from April 2021 as part of its ‘war on plastic waste’.
EA outlines standard rules changes in consultation response
EA outlines standard rules changes in consultation response
By
Rob Cole
| 27 August 2020 |
The Environment Agency (EA) has announced that it will be increasing storage limits at waste transfer stations under its new standard rules permits, with details revealed in a consultation response document on Monday (24 August).
Front cover of Defra Waste Management Plan consultation document
Defra to consult on revised waste management plan
By
Rob Cole
| 21 August 2020 |
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to consult on a revised Waste Management Plan for England, though it is not currently proposing any new policies.
mining pit
Earth Overshoot Day falls three weeks later this year – but are we really making progress?
By
Emma Love
| 21 August 2020 |
The coronavirus pandemic means Earth Overshoot Day has fallen just under a month later than last year, and Global Footprint Network has developed new solutions to continue to #MoveTheDate.
The Defra sign
Government to set legally-binding waste targets
By
Rob Cole
| 20 August 2020 |
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is set to introduce legally-binding targets for waste and other environmental issue areas as part of the government’s Environment Bill.
ESA's campaign graphic
ESA to launch battery recycling campaign
By
Lidia Creech
| 19 August 2020 |
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) has announced early details of its new campaign to urge consumers to responsibly recycle batteries.
European Green Deal to include new circular economy plan
UK recycling rate remains far behind Europe’s best recycling nations
By
Lidia Creech
| 19 August 2020 |
The UK’s municipal recycling rate continues to sit well below those of leading European recycling nations such as Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, according to municipal waste data from Eurostat, although its recycling rate has improved slightly.
Scrap tyres
Can you recycle bike tyres and inner tubes?
By
Lidia Creech
| 19 August 2020 |
Though cycling is seen as the ideal form of green transport, millions of bike tyres and inner tubes are thrown away every year in the UK. Is it possible to dispose of these items in an environmentally friendly way?
Glass bottles at a sorting plant.
Glass industry reiterates concerns over ‘all-in’ DRS
By
Rob Cole
| 17 August 2020 |
Glass recycling company Recresco has reiterated concerns from the glass industry over the mooted ‘all-in’ UK deposit return scheme (DRS) for beverage containers, warning it could have a “negative rather than a positive impact” on the UK recycling.
Professor Stephen Jenkinson
Reviewing biowaste treatment in the UK
By
Professor Stephen Jenkinson
| 14 August 2020 |
Professor Stephen Jenkinson provides an overview of the UK’s biowaste treatment system and what the priorities for Defra should be as the UK moves towards mandatory separate collections of biowaste.
MPs call for prospective UK DRS to be ‘all-in’
MPs call for prospective UK DRS to be ‘all-in’
By
Emma Love
| 14 August 2020 |
A cross-party group of 20 MPs have called on the prime minister to back an all-in deposit return scheme for drinks containers.
Defra sign outside the departmental building.
Defra outlines plans for monitoring resources policy
By
Rob Cole
| 12 August 2020 |
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has released two policy papers on monitoring and evaluation of the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England.
Defra sign
Defra to recruit head of Office for Environmental Protection
By
Lidia Creech
| 11 August 2020 |
Defra has begun the recruitment process for the inaugural Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection.
EU waste shipment regulation revision must not hinder EfW, says ESWET
By
Lidia Creech
| 5 August 2020 |
The European Suppliers of Waste-To-Energy Technology (ESWET) has released a policy briefing highlighting the need for any revision to the EU Waste Shipment Regulation to continue to allow the shipment of waste for energy recovery.
UK Circular Economy Package to set 65 per cent recycling target for 2035
UK Circular Economy Package to set 65 per cent recycling target for 2035
By
Rob Cole
| 31 July 2020 |
The UK Government will commit to a 65 per cent municipal recycling rate by 2035 after it announced it would be transposing the vast majority of the EU’s Circular Economy Package (CEP) into UK law.
An electric crane at Re-Gen Waste Ltd.
Scrapping red diesel will raise council waste costs, says Re-Gen Waste
By
Emma Love
| 30 July 2020 |
Re-Gen Waste says the government’s plans to scrap the lower rate of fuel duty on red diesel will increase its fuel costs by 237 per cent, more than tripling council waste bills.