The Government's waste strategy

The Government has published its new waste strategy.

Key points are as follows:

• More incentives for individuals and businesses to recycle/compost waste, leading to at least 40 per cent of household waste recycled or composted by 2010, rising to 50 per cent by 2020.
• Businesses to take more responsibility through packaging minimisation and higher targets for recycling packaging.
• A strong emphasis on waste prevention with householders reducing their waste (eg. home composting and reducing food waste) and business helping consumers to achieve this. National target to reduce the amount of household waste not re-used, recycled or composted by 45% from 22.2 million tonnes in 2000 to 12.2 million tonnes by 2020.
• Measures to reduce unsolicitied mail
• Working with retailers for the end of free single use bags
• Collaboration to enable recycling to be taken into public areas like shopping malls, train stations, cinemas and parks,
• Subject to further analysis and consultation, banning biodegradable and recyclable waste from being put into landfill sites.
• An increase in the landfill tax escalator by £8 per year from 2008 until at least 2010/11. Business waste to landfill is expected to fall by 20 per cent by 2010 compared with 2004.
• Increasing the amount of energy produced through energy-from-waste schemes, using waste that can't be reused or recycled. It is expected that from 2020 a quarter of municipal waste - waste collected by local authorities, mainly from households - will produce energy, compared to 10 per cent today.

Structure of report:

• Ch 1 outlines the purpose and process
• Ch 2 looks at fiscal measures
• Ch 3 at regulation
• Ch 4 at resource efficiency of materials etc
• Ch 5 at investment for waste collection and treatment
• Ch 6 at local and regional government aspects
• Ch 7 at 'third sector' eg. NGO aspects as well as education etc
• Ch 8 at implementation and monitoring

The full report and summary are attached below.