Waste strategy for England 2007

05/06/2007

Environment Secretary David Miliband has published a new strategy for cutting waste, and said that everyone - businesses, individuals, local authorities and the Government - has a role to play by reducing the waste they produce. He said that this would be an essential part of the drive to tackle climate change.

The main points of the waste strategy include:

· More effective incentives for individuals and businesses to recycle waste.

· A greater responsibility on businesses for the environmental impact of their products and operations.

· A strong emphasis on waste prevention.

· Developing a service so that people will be able to opt-out of receiving unaddressed and addressed direct mail.

· Working with retailers for the end of free, single-use bags.

· A challenge to see recycling extended from the home and office and taken into public areas so that it becomes a natural part of everyday life.

· Subject to further analysis and consultation, banning biodegradable and recyclable waste from being put into landfill sites.

· An increase in the landfill tax escalator by £8 per year from 2008 until at least 2010/11.

· Increasing the amount of energy produced by a variety of energy-from-waste schemes, using waste that cannot be re-used or recycled.

As part of the strategy, MTP will be carrying out more work to support the reduction of waste impacts through action taken at the design stage. In addition, through MTP, the Government is developing policy roadmaps for priority construction products such as window systems.

The waste strategy and consultation paper on incentives for recycling by households and accompanying partial regulatory impact assessment can be accessed here.