Boost domestic recycling

Our verdict

• This is a promise to increase the percentage of waste from households that is recycled.
• The Environment Bill, introduced in January 2020, contains various provisions to encourage domestic recycling, and in July 2020 the government committed to retaining many of the EU’s Circular Economy Package recycling targets after Brexit. From May to July 2021, a consultation was held on proposals to increase consistency in recycling collected from households, announced with the headline, “New plans unveiled to boost recycling”.
• The latest available statistics were published in March 2020 (next update due mid-July 2021), and they show the UK was not on track to meet the target of recycling 50% of household waste by 2020. However the passage of the Environment Bill, the transposition of measures from the Circular Economy Package, and holding a consultation aimed at raising levels of recycling are all evidence that efforts to fulfil this policy pledge are ‘in progress’.