On 21 October 2023 Defra released their response to the consultation1 regarding the proposed improvements to household and business recycling in England (previously referred to as Consistency in Collection but now termed ‘Simpler Recycling’).
Under the new requirement 1
- All local authorities in England must collect the same recyclable waste streams for recycling or composting from households and include paper and cardboard, plastic, metal, food waste and garden waste.
- All non-household municipal premises in England (such as businesses, schools and hospitals) must make arrangements to have the same set of recyclable waste streams (with the exception of garden waste) collected for recycling or composting and must present their waste in accordance with the arrangements.
Collection of Dry Mixed Recyclable materials from households and non-household municipal premises
Defra have confirmed within their response that the co-collection of specific dry recyclable waste streams can be collected together as long as it does not ‘significantly reduce their potential to be recycled’.1
The types of materials that must be collected under this new regime are outlined below however; the new regulations will allow the government to add to this list in the future. The material to be collected in the dry recyclable waste streams from both households and non-household municipal premises are1:
Glass
- Glass packaging including bottles and jars
Metal
- Steel and aluminium tins and cans
- Steel and aluminium aerosols
- Aluminium foil
- Aluminium food trays
- Steel and aluminium jars and bottle lids
- Aluminium tubes
Plastic
- Plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, including amorphous, recycled PET), polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
- Pots, tubs and trays made of PET (including amorphous, recycled and crystalline PET), PP (including expanded PP) and polyethylene (PE)
- PE and PP plastic tubes larger than 50mm x 50mm
- Cartons for food, drink and other liquids, including aseptic and chilled cartons
- Plastic film packaging and plastic bags made of mono-polyethylene (mono-PE), mono-polypropylene (mono-PP) and mixed polyolefins PE and PP, including those metallised through vacuum or vapour deposition (to be included from 31 Mar 2027)
Paper and Card
All paper and card except:
- Paper and card that contains glitter or foil
- Paper that is laminated
- Stickers and sticky paper
- Padded lined envelopes
- Paperback and hardback books
- Wallpaper
Cartons for food, drink and other liquids, including aseptic and chilled cartons, will be included in the plastic recyclable waste stream to be collected from households and non-household municipal premises.
Collection of Food Waste from households and non-household municipal premises
Waste collection authorities must arrange for a weekly collection of food waste for recycling or composting from households.
The following materials will be included in the food waste stream:
- all food intended for human or household pet consumption, regardless of whether it has any nutritional value.
- biodegradable material resulting from the processing or preparation of food, including inedible food parts such as bones, eggshells, fruit and vegetable skins, tea bags and coffee grounds.
The same materials will be included in the food waste stream for households and non-household municipal collections.
Collection of garden waste from households
Local authorities will be required to provide a garden waste collection service where it is requested but, as is currently the case, they can continue to choose to charge for this service. Householders will be able to make their own decision about whether they wish to use this optional service or make other arrangements.
The following items will be included in the garden waste stream.
All organic material from the garden except:
- ash
- full-sized trees
- invasive weeds and species
- soil
- turf cuttings
- waste products of animal origin
A local authority may choose to co-collect food and garden waste from households, they must ensure that food waste is collected for free on a weekly basis by 31 March 2026, where they are continuing to co-collect it with garden waste.
Collection of residual waste from households
The government intends to introduce a minimum service standard for Local Authorities to provide a fortnightly collection for residual waste (alongside a weekly food waste collection). However, the government aims to actively encourage councils to collect residual waste more frequently; this minimum fortnightly standard (alongside weekly food waste collection) will be a backstop, not a recommendation.
Funding to support these new service requirements.
The costs to deliver these new duties will be funded through a combination of the following measures.
- Reasonable new burdens funding to local authorities to provide weekly food waste collection from households. Funding will include capital costs (such as vehicles and containers), as well as resource costs (such as vehicle re-routing, communications and project management) and ongoing service costs (such as collection and disposal costs).
- EPR for packaging payments will be provided to local authorities, with packaging producers responsible for the costs of collecting and managing packaging waste through efficient and effective services. This includes the collection of additional packaging materials for recycling, such as plastic films and flexibles.
- Under section 45(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, waste collection authorities may continue to recover a reasonable charge for the collection of garden waste.
Where a local authority does not currently have a food waste service that is compliant with the Environment Act 2021 requirements, and they make a capital investment after 31 March 2023 to implement that service, this investment will be funded in accordance with the new burdens doctrine. Defra do not intend to retrospectively fund capital investments made before this date.
New burdens costs need to meet reasonable costs. There should be no expectation that the government will meet all additional expenditure by local authorities regardless of value for money.
Implementation Dates – summary 1
New requirements for collections of dry recyclable materials (except plastic film) from:
- households: by the end of the financial year in which EPR for packaging commences – by 31 March 2026
- businesses and relevant non-domestic premises: by 31 March 2025
- micro-firms: by 31 March 2027
New requirements for collections of plastic film from:
- households, businesses, non-domestic premises and micro-firms: by 31 March 2027
New requirements for collections of food waste from:
- households: by 31 March 2026 – unless a transitional arrangement applies i.e. long-term disposal contracts etc,
- businesses and non-domestic premises: by 31 March 2025
- micro-firms: by 31 March 2027
New requirements for collections of garden waste from:
- households: by 31 March 2026
New requirements for minimum collections of residual waste from:
- households: by 31 March 2026
Notes
‘Relevant waste’ is waste from industrial or commercial premises which is similar in nature and composition to household waste.
Where long-term waste disposal (mechanical biological treatment and energy from waste) contracts present a barrier to introducing separate food waste collections, a longer implementation period may be required. Defra will continue to engage with affected local authorities in this instance.
- Consultation Outcome. Government response – consistency in household and business recycling in England, October 2023 ↩︎
- Consultation Outcome. Government response – consistency in household and business recycling in England, October 2023 ↩︎
- Consultation Outcome. Government response – consistency in household and business recycling in England, October 2023 ↩︎
- Consultation Outcome. Government response – consistency in household and business recycling in England, October 2023 ↩︎
- Consultation Outcome. Government response – consistency in household and business recycling in England, October 2023 ↩︎
