Explainer: Why the bins and recycling keeps changing

The UK Government has announced several major policy changes, which will affect how waste and recycling is managed in England, and how services are funded across the UK.

If implemented, this will significantly influence how waste and recycling is managed in West Berkshire.

So the council has got into it, and produced a Waste Strategy – and the consultation about reducing black bin collections to three weekly is part of the bigger recycling picture.

There are four pillars to all of this from the Government, which are the Extended Producer Responsibility, the Deposit Return Scheme, Simpler Recycling and Emissions Trading Scheme.

This last one is interesting to West Berkshire, as a recent eastern area planning meeting saw the Government call in a decision about a £100m waste recycling plant intended to produce carbon neutral aviation fuel – the first of its kind in the UK.

Maybe the Government wants to make a thing of it. No reasons given though – nor any timeline.

The impact of expanding the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) may not affect West Berkshire Council as it does not currently own or operate an Energy from Waste facility (EfW), so there are no changes that the council must make directly.

However, some of the waste the council collects is sent for EfW facilities and it is therefore important that the council understands the potential costs that may result from the implementation of this policy.

Expanding the UK ETS to include EfW will make it more expensive, especially for residual waste that contains significant amounts of fossil fuel material that releases carbon dioxide during the process – mainly plastics.

The costs will initially fall on EfW operators, but will be passed on to their customers, like the council, through the fees they charge.

Although there is a curious quirk here, as raised by a chap called Andy who wrote in wondering where he could dispose of some old diesel.

The council has no centre to dispose of this, and points punters to find car shops which are designated drop-off sites for hazardous waste.

Under the proposals for Extended Producer Responsibility, packaging producers will be responsible for the full net cost of managing the packaging they handle or place on the market.

This includes the cost of collecting, transporting, sorting and disposal of packaging waste, whether from households or businesses.

West Berkshire Council will receive funding for operating an ‘efficient and effective’ household waste service.

However, the criteria for assessing efficiency and effectiveness are still unclear, and funding amounts beyond the first year remain uncertain as the policy evolves.

This uncertainty affects the council’s ability to plan and budget, potentially impacting overall service delivery for the whole council.

With the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), West Berkshire is likely to see fewer DRS eligible materials, such as plastic bottles and metal drink cans, placed in household recycling and general waste containers.

Experience from other countries indicates that a DRS may also have a positive impact on street litter.

Under a DRS, people who buy drinks in certain kinds of containers will have to pay a small deposit, which they can reclaim when they are finished with their drink.

It is currently expected that the scheme will involve consumers returning materials to a collection point (in shops) to claim their deposit.

The Government also wishes to achieve greater consistency in the materials that are collected for recycling.

The core set of recyclable materials are paper and card, metal, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, pots, tub and trays, plastic tubes and Tetra Pak cartons.

Plastic film will be required to be collected by March 2027.

West Berkshire Council already meets most of these requirements, but will be expected to expand kerbside collections to include foil and aluminium trays, plastic tubes and cartons, including Tetra Paks.

Local authorities will be required to offer garden waste collections to all households who request it, including communal properties.

A council may charge for those collections, but charges should be ‘reasonable’.

Householders will be able to make their own decision about whether they wish to use this optional service or make other arrangements.

The council already provides an opt-in chargeable service.

The draft Waste Strategy has not yet been through the council’s internal governance process and the final strategy will be considered by the council’s executive later this spring.