News

MPs are to examine the UK’s recycling infrastructure and the government’s approach to waste minimisation in an inquiry into the Waste Strategy for England.

The inquiry, announced by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee in July, will also examine how the government plans to implement the policies proposed in the Waste Strategy, which was published in May.

Interested parties must submit evidence to the committee by 26 October.

Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle said the recycling study was the “biggie” as far as the packaging industry was concerned.

“There is a considerable groundswell across all parts of the supply chain that we won’t solve any long-term problems until the recycling infrastructure is made fit for purpose,” he said.

Julian Carroll, managing director of the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, said the “brouhaha” about packaging in the UK was largely due to the poor infrastructure for collecting household waste.