This applies to England only

Under Simpler Recycling everyone in England will be able to recycle six materials without checking what their local council will accept – these materials are plastic, paper and card, glass, metal, food waste and garden waste (households only). Subject to consultation, local authorities will retain flexibility on how they collect these six waste streams.  Please click here for more information about Simpler Recycling.

Premises in scope: Simpler Recycling collections will cover households and non-household municipal premises, such as businesses, hospitals and schools.

Implementation: Simpler Recycling collections should be introduced for non-household municipal premises by 31 March 2025, for domestic households by 31 March 2026 and for micro-firms (firms with less than ten full-time equivalent employees) by 31 March 2027.  Plastic films and flexibles collections should be introduced for all premises by 31 March 2027.

Garden waste: household garden waste should be collected where requested by the householder from 31 March 2026 and local councils will retain the power to charge for garden waste collection if desired.

Funding: The costs for local authorities to deliver these new duties to households will be funded through a combination of the following measures:

• Reasonable new burdens funding to local authorities to provide weekly food waste collection from households. Funding will include capital costs (such as vehicles and containers), as well as resource costs and ongoing service costs, and will be through Section 31 grants.
• The collection of household packaging materials will be funded through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) payments to local authorities, starting by the end of December 2025.
• It remains the case that under section 45(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, waste collection authorities may, as they can now, recover a reasonable charge for the collection of garden waste.

Exemptions: Defra is currently running a targeted invite only consultation on exemptions to allow the co-collection of dry recyclable waste in one container and/or the co-collection of organic (food and garden) waste in one container from all premises without a written assessment. Waste collectors will be able to offer more containers (such as bins, bags and boxes) if desired.  Draft Statutory Guidance for Simpler Recycling is also included in this consultation - covering materials in scope and the duties of waste collectors. 

Please participate in this consultation if you have been invited to do so. This consultation closes on 20 November 2023.

Public consultation: Defra is consulting publicly on additional policies to support Simpler Recycling such as expanding the list of non-domestic premises to include, for example, places of worship, charity shops and hostels.  We would very much welcome your feedback and input into this public consultation which runs until 20 November 2023 - please click here to take part.

Future engagement: Defra will continue to engage widely on Simpler Recycling to ensure the needs of stakeholders are addressed.  Please share feedback through your local authority and waste industry networks so we can support you to implement Simpler Recycling and overcome any challenges.  Further updates will be shared in future Local Authority Forums, Business Readiness Forums, the new Waste Management Forum and this newsletter.

Simpler Recycling builds on the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan to protect and preserve the environment plus the Resources & Waste Strategy.  Over 800 consultation responses received from local councils, businesses and trade bodies in response to the government’s 2021 consultation on how and when Simper Recycling should be introduced were analysed to shape these proposals.   

Simpler Recycling is a major step forward in reducing the environmental impact of food waste, reducing confusion about how to recycle and increasing recycling rates.

Questions and Answers

Question: Will the proposed exemption for mixed dry recycling be container-specific? If local councils are collecting in bags or boxes should residents expect to use one container or a bin moving forward?

Answer: Subject to consultation, local councils have flexibility to co-collect their dry mixed recycling in one container (such as a bin, bag or box).  There is no specification or prescription as to what type or colour of container should be provided to residents. 

Question: Does the collection of garden waste from ‘households’ include flats?

Answer: Yes, if requested and paid for if appropriate.

Question: There is an expectation that residual waste will be collected fortnightly, but some councils are struggling to pay for waste services and we are looking at three weekly collections.  Will a sanction or penalty be applied to local councils which do not comply by continuing or moving to three weekly collections e.g., reduction in Extended Producer Responsibility funding?

Answer: At this stage, we are consulting relevant parties on the content of the statutory guidance. Local authorities must have regard to any statutory guidance, once published, when making decisions and offering services.    

Question: Will there be conditions linked to any exemptions requested for co-mingled collections? Is it an unconditional exemption?

Answer: The Secretary of State has the power to grant an exemption that applies across England. Subject to consultation with relevant parties, we are proposing exemptions which will allow local authorities and other waste collectors to choose to co-collect all the dry recyclable waste streams in one container, and/or to co-collect food and garden waste in one container, without the need for a written assessment.  So, in effect, the exemption would be unconditional. Subject to consultation, these exemptions will be confirmed in regulations. 

Question: We use the same vehicles and collection infrastructure for non-household recycling collections (schools) and household recycling collections. Why are these recycling collections being phased at different times when we need to have all our systems operating in the same way by the same point?

Answer: The timescales we have set for non-household municipal premises are based on feedback to our 2021 consultation which suggested the waste contract length for non-household municipal collections is shorter and business waste collections are easier to adapt.

The timescales for household collections are aligned with EPR for packaging payments, which is why they are a year later. 

We will certainly look at this issue and work with local authorities about the interface between household collections and non-household municipal collections.  We will also discuss this issue with Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) plus the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to find ways to overcome this challenge because we want to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Question: What is the default position for local authorities in the event an exemption for co-mingling is not issued because of continued political uncertainty e.g., a general election is called in three months? Do we revert to the current TEEP arrangements and requirement for separate collections?

Answer: The consultation on exemptions is four weeks and we hope to pass regulations bringing exemption-making powers into force by early 2024. It is unlikely the political position will have changed by then.  If no exemptions are provided the default position is TEEP i.e., separate collections unless an exception or exemption under the Environment Act 2021 applies.

Question: Will we lose out on potential capital transition funding if we start our procurement for weekly food waste collections now?

Answer: No. We will be funding any activity which started on or after 1 April 2023.

Question: There is a huge amount of evidence on how less frequent residual waste collections can significantly increase recycling rates, so I am concerned the government is suggesting we collect it weekly or fortnightly. 

The government response says we must collect malodorous waste – however the weekly food waste would cover most of this.  I am also concerned about how restricted residual waste is going to impact on the government’s commitment to reduce residual waste by 50% by 2042 from 2019 levels.

Answer: Frequent residual waste collection is a long-standing government policy – please  see the 2019 Consistency Government Response and the 2021 EPR government response to previous waste consultations.

We will be engaging with a range of local authority and waste industry representative networks to explore all the issues raised.  We are also consulting relevant parties as part of the targeted consultation on exemptions and statutory guidance for Simpler Recycling in England. Please participate in this consultation if you have been invited to do so. This consultation closes on 20 November 2023.

Question: There is reference to ‘local amenity’ as a rationale for not allowing three weekly residual collections in the government response. Will you commit to sharing the evidence on the actual impact on local amenity with us?

Answer: We are currently consulting on including a minimum service standard for household residual waste collections in statutory guidance. All available evidence will be considered when the policy decision is made by ministers. 

Question: Will you be sharing the New Burdens assessment on fortnightly residual?

Answer: We are currently consulting on including a minimum service standard for household residual waste collections in statutory guidance. All available evidence will be considered when the policy decision is made by ministers.

The New Burdens Doctrine (NBD) seeks to ensure local government gets the support it needs but it is applied at ministerial discretion. In this case, ministers from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have exceptionally decided to waive the New Burdens Doctrine.

Guidance has long been that councils should be collecting residual waste weekly and it is the government’s view that local authorities should be collecting at least fortnightly to provide a reasonable level of service to their residents.

It should be noted that over 97% of local authorities currently provide all of their collections at least fortnightly. The government view is therefore that it would be an inappropriate use of taxpayer money to provide additional funds to the few councils currently offering a service below this level.

Question: On food waste funding – although retrospective costs will not be covered vehicles and containers do not last forever and we already have a replacement cycle for them.  If we already have food waste collections, will we be able to access future capital funding?

Answer: We will be providing on-going costs to all local authorities with effect from 1 April 2026 when the food waste collection obligation comes into force.  This will take into account the lifespan of vehicles.

Question: Will there be revenue funding for food waste costs?

Answer: Revenue transitional funding will be covered but as with capital funding this funding will only be for local authorities who are yet to fully transition to weekly food waste collections to all households.

Question: On the frequency of residual waste collections will funding be made available to increase or decrease three weekly collections to fortnightly or weekly?

Answer: At this stage, we are consulting on including a minimum service standard for household residual waste collections in statutory guidance. Ministers have the ability to waive the New Burdens doctrine if they feel that local authorities should be providing weekly or fortnightly residual waste services as a minimum. Ministers have decided to waive the New Burdens doctrine on this occasion and would not fund local authorities to move from three weekly to fortnightly residual waste collections.

Question: Is there any guidance on the volume of residual waste collections removed?

Answer: There is nothing in the proposed statutory guidance which addresses the volume of residual waste collections.

Question: Ricardo have recently produced an evidence base which demonstrates that co-mingling can be cheaper, lower carbon and better for the environment overall – but this is not in the public domain. You have also referred to your own research which supports this.  For those of us looking at co-mingling it would be really helpful to see this evidence.

Answer: We have some evidence but have never consulted on the whole exemption of everything co-mingled as dry material. Hopefully we will receive more evidence during the consultation period from local authorities on co-mingling systems. We will need to check whether we can take the Ricardo material into consideration.

Question: Will there be future funding for adding film to kerbside collections and is the technology available to recycle it? I worry about all these collections happening at once without anywhere for us to send it.

Answer: We are aware of the challenges with plastic film which is why this is coming in later. We are also supporting the multi-million-pound FlexCollect project, launched in May 2022, funding local authorities to roll out kerbside plastic film collection trials. This will help gather insights to support effective collections more widely.

Question: What assessment of quality was taken not just with local authorities but the wider industry to ensure that quality of materials is maintained or improved in future?

Answer: A range of opinions exist on local authority collection systems – please send in your views on this as part of the consultation so we can take this into account.

Question: Will there be any consideration or guidance on how the funding mechanisms will work for authorities considering a full collection and vehicle model to accommodate collecting food waste on the same vehicle as the dry recycling?  So, moving to a kerbside-sort vehicle rather than purchasing separate food waste vehicles.

Answer: The details of this will be laid out in the funding allocation when we contact you about your capital award. In terms of the mode of collection chosen local authorities are free to spend their Section 31 grant as they see fit.  If you want to do a separate food waste pod that is up to local discretion.

Question: Can you guarantee end markets for the dry recyclable materials local authorities will be required to collect?

Answer: By making recycling clearer and easier, we will help to reduce contamination, better preserve material value, and help to grow demand for recyclables. This means both more recycled material in the products we buy and growth of the UK recycling industry.

In our 2023 government response, we announced the materials to be included in legislation for collection from every household and business in England.

This will guarantee a supply of recyclable materials, some of which are not currently widely collected for recycling, such as cartons, increasing investors’ confidence in investing in reprocessing of these materials and improving the competitiveness of UK reprocessing.

Through EPR for packaging, local authorities will receive payments to cover the costs of managing dry recyclable packaging collected and managed through an efficient and effective service. The payments for household packaging waste will support improved recycling collections for households and provide for the collection of additional packaging materials for recycling, such as plastic films and flexibles.

Alongside the Collection and Packaging Reforms, HM Treasury’s Plastic Packaging Tax on plastic packaging is expected to increase demand for secondary material plastic and increasing reprocessing infrastructure will help meet this demand.

Question: What measures are being implemented to reduce costs for businesses to recycle?

Answer: Micro-firms (any business with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees) across all sectors are most likely to face an increase in costs due to the new requirements.

Micro-firms will have an additional two years to meet the new requirements for dry recyclable waste streams and food waste meaning that they must comply by 31 March 2027. They will need to make arrangements for plastic film to be collected as part of the plastic waste stream from 31 March 2027, which is the same time as everyone else.

This phasing period will provide additional time for micro-firms to prepare, by accessing business support tools being developed by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) which are designed to ensure that businesses transition to the new requirements in the most cost-efficient way.

We also consulted on a range of options that could help to reduce the cost burden on businesses and other producers of relevant waste and relevant non-domestic premises producing household waste. These included collaborative procurement where businesses and organisations work together to purchase waste collection services; business support tools; measures to rationalise waste management services; and other policies to reduce costs for businesses.

Following the feedback at consultation, we plan to further consider the features and benefits of each of the cost reduction measures by working with stakeholders to better understand how these options can help limit the cost that businesses face to recycle.

Question: Are food waste collections required for small offices to collect tea bags and lunch scraps?

Answer: Yes - there is no minimum threshold in operation which means food waste collections are required for all non-household municipal premises. It will be up to the waste collector to decide how this service is offered.

Question: In the government response that was published the list of materials for collection includes all paper and card except paper that is laminated. However, the current definition of a fibre based composite material is paper that is laminated with plastic. This would seem to indicate that all fibre-based composites are excluded from the collection list except for cartons. Is that the intention of the response and, if so, on what basis? If that is not the intention when will clarification in writing be issued?

Answer: We intend to include in the description of the paper recyclable waste stream in regulations ‘all paper and card except […] paper that is laminated’. Since fibre-based composites are laminated with plastic, they would therefore be excluded on this basis. Cartons for food, drink and other liquids will be included in the plastic waste stream. We are in the process of drafting the wording for the regulations in line with the government response to provide full wording as soon as possible.

Please note that the Secretary of State may add to the materials in each recyclable waste stream set out in the regulations in the future, once there is confidence that the materials are widely recyclable.

Question: As we do not collect food waste we will need 12 new vehicles. I am concerned about the timescale available to get these vehicles because everybody will be wanting them. Also, it is our experience that food waste falls off as soon as people know they are wasting more food. This should be waste minimisation instead of collecting food waste. We will be burning a lot of fuel to collect the waste at 20% participation which is more likely to negatively impact the environment. We are also involved in a joint venture which finishes in 2027. If Simple Recycling comes in before the joint venture and continues for 14 years what do we do next?

Answer: We are very much alive to the issue of trucks procurement and aware that many local authorities will be buying new vehicles – we have been talking to manufacturers about standardising the procurement process plus other measures to avoid cost increases, a rush to the market and bottlenecks in vehicle manufacturing.

The modelling shows that weekly food waste recycling collection has a positive net zero impact even when fuel costs are taken into account and reduces biodegradable waste going to landfill.

Question: Transitional arrangements for local authorities with a long-term residual contract – is this any contract that extends beyond March 2026 where the authority has no right to terminate that contract early?

Answer: Long-term transitional arrangements will only be provided to specific local authorities, which are tied into complex waste disposal contracts running beyond March 2026 that cannot be amended without paying large contract variation penalties. In such cases, where we have been provided evidence by the local authorities of those costs, weekly food waste collections will be implemented after March 2026 on a date to be agreed and specified in the commencement regulations.

Question: At B&Q we are preparing for new Welsh regulations coming into force on 6 May 2024 which allow a 5 kilogram tolerance for food waste. Is there any consideration for retailers for some tolerance in general waste for food, similar to Wales?

Answer: There is no minimum threshold for food waste collections for businesses.

Question: When the majority of waste in the UK is from the construction and demolition industry why is there so much focus on packaging?

Answer: We also focus on the construction sector and work with green construction boards. There is a zero avoidable waste route map for the construction sector and we actively work alongside a range of partners. Construction and demolition waste is very much in our sights. We recycle 70% of construction and demolition waste on site.

Most people do not produce construction waste at home and we want to tackle plastic going onto the market - recycle more plastic. 70% of all plastic that goes onto the market is from packaging in one form or another.

Question: There is a proposal to introduce exemptions so that dry waste and wet waste can be put together with a minimum of three bins. This is not much different to what we have now. How stringent will the exemptions be and how easy will it be to apply for them? Someone may apply for an exemption but carry on as usual.

Answer: It will never be possible to mix dry recyclable waste with wet organic fractions – no exceptions, no exemptions. Also, recyclable waste must always be separate from residual black bin bag waste. However, we are consulting relevant parties on exemptions which, if granted, would allow a local authority to co-collect dry recyclable waste in one bin, and/or food waste and garden waste in another bin without completing a written assessment.

Local authorities do not have to co-collect all the dry or organic recyclable waste streams. We are providing more local flexibility, although we are stringent about bin content. Binary labelling will minimise national confusion. Subject to consultation local authorities will decide how many containers work for their local areas depending on their agreements with MRFs, technology at the end destination, current service and EPR payments under efficient and effective service.

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