Archived press release

One in Four Councils to Miss Recycling Targets

5 August 2002

The UK has one of the worst recycling rates in Europe, recycling only 12 per cent of Household waste with nearly all the rest going to landfill. The UK has to ensure that two thirds of waste is diverted from landfill by 2020. If recycling continues to improve by the current rate of one per cent per year, the Government will miss this target by a mile, risking daily fines of £500,000. Friends of the Earth is promoting a Parliamentary Bill which would force local authorities to provide a quality doorstep recycling and composting service to every household in the country.

The report - which DEFRA only released after it was reminded of its legal obligation [2] – was prepared as part of the current review of the landfill tax. At the last budget Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that he was minded to significantly increase the landfill tax and introduce a tax on incineration. But he has not yet promised sufficient money for local authority recycling, as he claims to be waiting for the results of the Government’s Performance and Innovation Unit waste strategy review. Friends of the Earth has calculated that a quality recycling service would cost £17/household/year, requiring £200 million extra from the Treasury. Increasing landfill tax could provide ample funds for this without increased council taxes.

Mike Childs, Senior Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
“This report shows that the Government is making a mess of recycling. The Government must make local authorities provide people with a decent recycling service and must provide them with the money to do so. If they fail to do this the UK will still be regarded as the dirty man of Europe.”

Notes

[1] The ENDS Report is published monthly by Environmental Data services. The ENDS Report article can be viewed at www.endsreport.com. The July edition is published on Monday.
[2] The ENDS Report reminded DEFRA that they were obliged to provide a copy of the report.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust