The UK waste management sector has embraced new ambitious European proposals to increase recycling rates to 70% by 2030. It is also hoped landfill bans will be introduced by 2025.
However UK resource minister, Dan Rogers, does not seem to hold the same optimistic views, describing targets as “very challenging”.
Environment Commissioner, Janez Potocnik, has accepted these changes will require work but feels they are necessary and possible. He expressed that “moving to a circular economy is not only possible, it is profitable, but that does not mean it will happen without the right policies”.
According to figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in November, 43.2% of waste in England was recycled in 2012-13.
New measures will also be introduced with the aim of reducing food waste by 30% by 2025.
