Defra says UK must do more to meet EU waste targets

Summarising progress made since the publication of the Waste Strategy in May 2007, Defra said household waste per head which is not re-used, recycled or composted fell by 22% from 2000 to 2007.

Household recycling rates reached 31%, a rise from 26.7% in 2005/06, and early indications show that this has risen again in the first part of 2007/08 to 33%.

Total waste sent to landfill fell by a fifth between 2000/01 and 2006, from 80 million tonnes to 65 million tonnes.

The amount of commercial and industrial waste being sent to landfill also continues to fall from an estimated 27 million tonnes in 2000/01 to 20.7 million tonnes in 2006, a decrease of 23%.

Defra said it had already taken steps to develop a sectoral approach to reducing waste, particularly from the food, packaging and retail sectors, and this would be taken further.

The government is also working with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) to develop a “broad vision” for the longer term for packaging, which includes working closely with retailers and local authorities, as well as with other players.

In addition, the Courtauld Commitment will deliver new packaging solutions so that less waste ends up as landfill.

However, Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle played down the significance of the report.
Packaging is not the key to the report, he said. In fact, there is only one recommendation that relates to packaging out of about twenty – the report is actually about food supply and security.

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