News

The government plans to commission major research projects looking at biodegradable packaging and collection and recycling systems to help with delivery of its Waste Strategy for England.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said today (19 September) that the research programme would "help to ensure that waste and resources policies are evidence based, not evidence backed".

Key research topics will include:

• How to best measure the carbon impacts of waste prevention and management

• Whether producer responsibility gives the right incentives for product design and waste prevention, re-use and recycling

• The environmental impacts of biodegradable and degradable packaging

• What collection methods lead to high-quality recyclates, and whether high collection costs are offset by environmental benefits

The projects will be subject to an open, competitive tendering process announced via Defra's website.

This is the second Defra waste and resources research programme and more than 80 projects have been funded since it first started in 2004.

The Waste Strategy for England, published in May, included proposals for the creation of optimum minimum standards for packaging, and for a joint protocol between industry and local government on recycling from household waste.

Click here for more on The Waste and Resources Evidence Strategy.

Click here for more on the Waste Strategy for England.