Archived press release

Government must improve doorstep recycling facilities

24 September 2004

As the Government launches a £10 million multi-media advertising campaign to encourage people to recycle their domestic waste, Friends of the Earth is calling for more money to be spent on recycling facilities to improve the nation's woeful recycling record. The environmental campaign group has welcomed the campaign which highlights the importance of recycling.

The UK currently only recycles around 14.5 per cent of household waste, and seems unlikely to meet the Government target of recycling or composting a quarter of household waste by 2005 [1]. A Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report, published in August, revealed that 89 local councils in England failed to improve their rate of recycling between 2001/2 and 2002/3 [2]. The UK also languishes near the bottom of the EU recycling league table. Some countries already recycle over half of their municipal waste, including Austria (58%), Germany (53%) and the Netherlands (59%) [3].

The amount of waste created is also increasing. In 2002/3, household waste - which accounts for around 88 per cent of municipal waste - rose by 1.1 per cent [4].

Friends of the Earth's waste campaigner, Georgina Bloomfield said:

"We welcome this campaign to encourage householders to think of their waste as a resource and make full use of their recycling facilities.But more needs to be done to help people recycle. The Government must provide more support and funding for councils to ensure that every household has a comprehensive doorstep recycling scheme.

"The UK should follow the example of our European neighbours who are already recycling over half of their domestic waste. But we will not have a recycling record to be proud of until recycling is as easy as throwing out the rubbish."

Friends of the Earth is campaigning for:

• higher national recycling targets. Evidence has shown that we could be recycling around 60% of our waste if we implemented the current best practice examples from Europe.

• a reduction in the amount of waste created and the amount of virgin materials used in the UK. By recycling materials we can save vast amounts of energy and resources. For example, by recycling an aluminium can we save 95% of the energy it takes to make one from scratch.

• comprehensive doorstep recycling and composting collection services for every household. Last year, Friends of the Earth and Joan Ruddock MP successfully steered a Bill through Parliament which means that local authorities must provide every household with a collection of at least two materials by 2010.

• a tax on waste that is not recycled or composted. There is a tax on landfill, but this needs to be increased and extended to cover other disposal technologies, including incineration.

Notes

1. Waste Strategy 2000 for England and Wales, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/cm4693/index.htm

2. See www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/ ¬
recycling_targets_wont_be_11082004.html

3. Municipal Waste Management in the EU 2001 (Source: e-Digest of Environmental Statistics, February 2003) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/waste/kf/wrkf08.htm

4. See www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/ ¬
new_figures_show_governmen_29042004.html

5. Regional household recycling and municipal recycling rates for 2002/03 (Source: e-Digest of Environmental Statistics, August 2004) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/waste/kf/wrkf07.htm

SOME WASTE FACTS AND FIGURES

• We produce around 400 million tonnes of waste in England and Wales each year. 106 million tonnes of this waste is produced by industry, commerce and households. Around 30 million tonnes is from households.

• The average household produces around a tonne of waste each year. The amount of waste produced in the UK is rising every year.

• We throw out our own body weight in waste every 2 months. Each person throws away 7 times their own body weight in waste each year.

• By 2020 the amount of UK municipal waste is set to double (Government Strategy Unit)

• At least 55% of household waste is biodegradable (WRAP study Dec 2002)

• 35-40% of all household waste which ends up in landfill begins life as a purchase from one of the big five supermarkets (WRAP)

• The `ecological rucksack' (the amount of waste generated in producing every day products) is 1.5 kg for a toothbrush, 75 kg for a mobile phone and 1,500 kg for a personal computer (Wuppertal Institute)

• Nine out of ten people in England and Wales would recycle more waste if it was made easier according to an Environment Agency survey (EA Press Release 23 May 2002)

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust