Recycling and waste

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What happens to waste

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June 2008 - Recycle on the Go - bins in public places

That people produce waste is a fact of life we cannot change. However, we can change how much we produce, how we manage it and what we do with it. Indeed, managing waste in a sustainable way, optimising recycling and re-use, as well as limiting production, forms a core part of Government policy to protect the environment.

This page outlines what is in place to help local authorities reach their targets, some of the support available for businesses to manage their waste more effectively, and how everyone can play a part in ensuring we work together towards a future much less reliant on sending vast amounts of waste to landfill.

What is waste?

There is no definitive list of what is and is not waste. Whether or not a substance is discarded as waste - and when waste ceases to be waste - are matters that must be determined on the facts of the case and the interpretation of the law is a matter for the Courts. It rests, in the first place, with the producer or holder of a substance to decide whether it is being discarded as waste and the Environment Agency is responsible, as a "competent authority", for the enforcement of waste management controls in England and Wales.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued several judgments on the interpretation of the definition of waste and the meaning of "discard". ECJ judgements are binding on Member States and their competent authorities. A summary of ECJ judgements on the interpretation of the definition of waste has been published:

The waste hierarchy is a useful framework that has become a cornerstone of sustainable waste management, setting out the order in which options for waste management should be considered based on environmental impact:

Reduce: waste minimisation

National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP)

Symbiosis is defined as 'the coming together of dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship'. This world-leading industrial symbiosis initiative therefore aims to develop links between different industries to help improve the way they use their resources and minimise the waste they produce.

Set up by the Business Council for Sustainable Development (UK), NISP currently has over 500 industry members in England alone. And this year it will be expanded thanks to £2m of funding through the Governments Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme. The ensuing three years should therefore see, among other developments:

  • at least 100,000 tonnes of waste diverted away from landfill in each region every year
  • creation of 300, and securing a further 300 jobs
  • reduce CO2 emissions by 600,000 tonnes a year
  • encourage £40m worth of private investment into waste projects
  • save industry £10m a year through improved waste management.
Commercial waste

For every tonne of household waste produced, commercial, industrial and construction businesses produce another six tonnes. To this end, manufacturers could save around 1% of turnover through simple, yet effective, techniques to minimise waste.

An initiative launched in spring 2005 by Defra will help to take things a step further. The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme will fund a range of free services and targeted support to help businesses cut waste and manage resources more efficiently.

Coupled with this improved waste management are new regulations covering hazardous waste. These will ensure businesses will no longer be able to 'discard and disown' their waste: they will now have to look closely at what they are producing and how they are dealing with it to help reduce the five million tonnes of hazardous waste produced each year in England and Wales.

See also

Re-use

Waste minimisation is not going to reduce waste output to zero. Therefore we also have to think about what we do with the rubbish left. The re-use of products or materials that would otherwise become waste can provide a range of social, economic and environmental benefits. This is an area where the voluntary and community waste sector has lead the way. The sector has pioneered many of the services that are widespread today, such as the re-use of furniture and white goods.

See also

Recycle / Recover

Recycling is a way every individual can help the environment every day - and it is easier to do than it has ever been. Indeed, the latest figures from our Municipal Waste Survey showed that, for the first time, England has not only met, but exceeded, its target for recycling and composting household waste.

Surpassing the 17% mark for 2003/04 was great news for all those local authorities striving to improve the services they offer, but this progress is just the beginning. In terms of recycling, England is still very much the poor relation among its European partners, with countries like Austria and Belgium recycling more than 50% of their waste.

Moving to more sustainable waste management requires enormous changes: new facilities, new skills, new investment and new attitudes. As such, there are immense challenges ahead for Government, local authorities, and the public.

Although waste awareness initiatives are not a new concept, engaging the public remains a high priority; only then can we hope to encourage more householders to use more recycling facilities, more of the time.

Energy from waste

Disposal

In the past we have been reliant on sending the vast majority of our rubbish to landfill. However, this attitude is changing; last year there was an unprecedented reduction (1%) in the proportion of waste being sent to landfill to 20.9m tonnes.

And this trend will have to continue, considering the binding obligations England has under the EU Landfill Directive. By 2010, we will have to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste diverted to landfill to 75 per cent of that produced in 1995; by 2013 this is reduced to 50 per cent and by 2020 to 35 per cent.

Local authorities are crucial to the delivery of these targets and on April 1 2005 the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme was launched to provide them with the flexibility to contribute effectively. The system revolves around transferable allowances which will enable the greatest amount of waste diversion to occur in areas where it is cheapest, and most practicable to do so. This recognises the fact that the diversion costs each waste disposal authority faces will differ according to their particular circumstances.

Landfill and the Landfill Directive

Informal consultation: review of Inert Waste Regulation

Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency are undertaking a review of the regulation of inert waste.  The aim is to adopt a more proportionate and risk-based regulatory approach to the inert waste recovery and disposal operations. 

The Quarry Products Association published a Position Statement  in June 2006.   - of particular concern was the need to ensure that inert waste remains available to restore exhausted mineral extraction sites.  In November 2006, the Davidson Review report recommended that Government and the Environment Agency should conduct a full review of the regulation of inert waste. 
It was recommended that the review should cover:

  • the appropriate use of inert waste exemptions [derogations] in EC legislation;
  • the creation of a more level playing field between different activities involving inert waste (proportionate to the risk posed);
  • how the implementation of the waste acceptance criteria might be made more efficient;
  • inconsistencies with the landfill tax regime; and
  • the quality of guidance, including the issue of when an activity should be classified as recovery or disposal.

The Government's aim is to regulate in a way that minimises burdens on business, whilst securing outcomes which maximise resource efficiency and protect the environment and human health.  To do this, we are reviewing the existing regulatory regimes and in particular the requirements of the Landfill Directive  (1999/31/EC) and how they impact on inert waste management and identify how they can be improved and simplified.   

Pet cemeteries are landfills and will need to comply with the requirements of the Landfill Directive. Our aim is to give effect to the Landfill Directive in respect of pet cemetery operations whilst continuing to regulate those operations under the Waste Management Licensing regime.

An agreed Defra/Environment Agency joint statement on the use of higher Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) limits under the provisions of the Landfill Directive. This statement is supported by an Environment Agency briefing note, a weblink to that is available within the document.

Landfill Directive Implementation Group brings together waste management and producer industry stakeholders representatives and regulatory and policy officials for advice and input on various issues related to implementation of the EU Landfill Directive

1 April 2004 The Landfill Tax rate for active waste increased by £1 to £15 per tonne. The rate for inactive waste remains at £2 per tonne. The Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report 2002 announced that the Landfill Tax for active waste would be increasing by a minimum of £3 per tonne from 2005-06, until it reaches a rate of £35 per tonne in the medium to long term.

Further information

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Page last modified: 27 June 2008
Page published: 5 February 2003

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs