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Figures published recently by the Environment Agency under its corporate scorecard show that tackling illegal waste sites still remains a challenge for the organisation. Out of its eight measures for protecting the environment, only “reducing the number of high risk illegal waste sites” received a “red” forecast. The scorecard is based on quarter one for…
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published its draft Environment Bill, which sets out how the government will be held accountable on environmental principles once the UK leaves the European Union. The draft, published in December sets out clauses on environmental principles and governance “to be included in an ambitious, broader Environment Bill…
Market pressures continue to weigh on the waste or recovered paper sector on many fronts. The export market continues to be dominated by the quality control measures imposed by China which means that exports of used cardboard for use in papermaking by mills in China have to be of the very highest quality, almost without…
As the UK starts to get used to paying for single use bags and their usage falls, there remain concerns that too many are still used and that ‘Bags for Life’ are also being used in greater volumes than needed. So, in the wake of the Resources and Waste Strategy and its emphasis on reducing…
Just before Christmas 2018, the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove published the long-awaited Resources and Waste Strategy for England and Wales. An important aspect of the strategy is that businesses and manufacturers are to pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging waste. This relates to the UK’s PRN system whereby money is…
A number of retailers have launched initiatives to help tackle the issues surrounding single-use plastics, which includes carrier bags made from recyclable materials. National retailer, Co-op, has started rolling out compostable carrier bags to over 1,000 of its food stores which are also accepted in household food waste collections by the local authority. Alternatively, the…
Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, has suggested that the government’s upcoming Waste and Resources Strategy, will look into ‘further restrictions’ on certain single-use plastic items. Speaking to an invited audience in central London, Mr Gove delivered a lecture titled, ‘When Will There Be a Harvest for the World?’ on behalf of Theos think tank; covering climate…
Defra has confirmed that it will introduce a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for breaches of the household waste duty of care. Homeowners could now face financial penalties of up to £400 if they fail to ensure their waste is given to a licensed carrier. Defra’s announcement was made in late November in the wake of…
A coalition of retailers, local authorities, trade associations and charities are calling on government to “fast-track” the roll-out of separate food waste collections across the UK. The various organisations signed a joint statement which was submitted to Environment Secretary Michael Gove on 20 November. One of the signatories, the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA)…
The European battery recycling target of 45% is proving difficult to achieve this year. Currently the only way the UK will meet its official target is to rely on accumulated battery stocks and the current high level of portable Lead battery evidence. Without old stocks and Lead the UK is struggling to meet a recycling…
