A significant overhaul of household waste collection is set to be implemented next year, with the first stages rolling out as early as March 2025. The Labour government has released a policy update stating: “For too long, households in England have been presented with a muddled and confusing patchwork of approaches to bin collections”.
The Conservative policy announced in 2023 proposed up to seven bins for various types of waste. However, an updated plan has now been published by the government, reducing the number of bins to four.
The new standard requirement for most homes and workplaces will include four containers, which could be bags, bins or stackable boxes.
The new default requirement for most households and workplaces will be 4 containers for:
- residual (non-recyclable) waste
- food waste (mixed with garden waste if appropriate)
- paper and card
- all other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal and glass
The document, titled ‘Simpler Recycling in England: policy update’, states: “This is the government’s maximum default requirement and is not expected to increase in the future.
However, councils and other waste collectors will still have the flexibility to make the best choices to suit local need. This is a sensible, pragmatic approach to the collection of materials for every household and business in England.”
The scheme aims to standardise policies across England and eliminate the ‘postcode lottery’ of bin collections, where councils collect different materials for recycling, leading to ‘confusion for households’.
The changes promise that ‘bad-smelling food waste’ will be collected from all households ‘at least’ weekly.
Officials are confident that a revolutionary shake-up in England’s bin collections will boost sagging recycling rates, which have stubbornly hovered around the 44 per cent mark since 2015. The upcoming changes come with a detailed timeline and blueprint for handling various types of waste:
There is a timeline for the change:
- by 31 March 2025, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises in England will need to arrange for the collection of the core recyclable waste streams, with the exception of garden waste (glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, and food waste)
- micro-firms (businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees) will be temporarily exempt from this requirement. They will have until 31 March 2027 to arrange for recycling of core recyclable waste streams
- by 31 March 2026, local authorities will be required to collect the core recyclable waste streams from all households in England. This includes introducing weekly food waste collections for most homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies [footnote 3]
- by 31 March 2027, kerbside plastic film collections from businesses and relevant non-domestic premises, and households will be introduced
In a bid to offer local authorities and residents more convenience, the Government is rolling out an exception for amalgamating food and garden refuse. The published guidelines state: “There is no evidence that this would affect their ability to be recycled or composted, since the materials can always be processed through in-vessel composting when mixed.”
As for dry materials, the ideal scenario posits paper and card collected separately from other recyclables to preserve their recycling potential. A staggering 121 councils across the nation already implement separate collections for these resources, distinct from other dry recyclables.
Other dry materials can be collected together, as experts believe the simplification—and hence likely increase in volume—outweighs the minor risk of contamination. Latest figures from WRAP show that 95 local councils are currently adopting this approach for plastics, metals, and glass.
The briefing emphasises: “Simpler Recycling will enable consistent, more streamlined collections from all households, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises (such as schools and hospitals). Local authorities and other waste collectors will be able to co-collect some waste streams by default meaning that they will no longer need to collect 7 separate streams.”
“These common-sense changes will not lead to the proliferation of bins but will ensure the same set of materials are collected everywhere in England.”
