The EU will announce new recycling targets today, with the likely objective to be 70% by 2030. But is it achievable? With your help, Karl Mathiesen investigates.
Let us know your thoughts. Post in the comments below, email karl.mathiesen.freelance@guardian.co.uk or tweet @karlmathiesen
5.30pm BST
Recycling could be the environmental version of a gateway drug. Creating ways for people to live ethically can only promote those core values, leading to further positive action. Local councils can do much more and at less cost than landfill or incineration. On the surface it seems like a no brainer. The policy is complicated by certain social and technical impediments, but on the whole a 70% rate in 15 years time seems entirely attainable.
Almost all of the reaction to today's announcement has offered support to this conclusion. The only negative or cautious responses I have received have been from the waste management sector and the UK government.
5.07pm BST
Statistics from the rest of Europe show that the UK sits around the middle of the table for recycling rates.
The treatment methods differ substantially between Member States. In 2012, recycling and composting of municipal waste together accounted for more than 50% of waste treated in Germany (65% of waste treated), Austria (62%) and Belgium (57%). Recycling and composting was also the major part of waste treatment in the Netherlands (50%), Luxembourg (47%), the United Kingdom (46%), Ireland (45%) and France (39%). In Finland composting & recycling and incineration had equal shares (both 34%).
Observing the treatment methods separately, recycling was most common in Germany (47% of waste treated), Slovenia (42%), Ireland (37%), Belgium (36%), Estonia (34%), Denmark and Sweden (both 32%), and composting in Austria (34%), the Netherlands (26%), Belgium (21%), Luxembourg (19%), Germany and the United Kingdom (both 18%).
Denmark, with 668 kg per person, had the highest amount of waste generated in 2012, followed by Cyprus, Luxembourg and Germany with lower amounts but above 600 kg per person and Malta, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Finland and Greece with values between 500 and 600 kg. The United Kingdom, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belgium, Portugal and Hungary had values between 400 and 500 kg, while values of below 400 kg per person were recorded in Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Estonia.
4.48pm BST
The Environmental Audit Committee is currently investigating the UK's waste management. Chair of the committee, Joan Walley MP has summarised the information thus far received by the committee.
"The best performing countries in Europe already recycle around 70% of their waste so it is possible. We were told by the EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik that there is currently 3% to 5% of waste that you cannot avoid landfilling, but that with better product design even that residual waste might be eliminated.
"The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) told us that to meet the 70% target and work towards a truly circular economy we have a lot of changes to infrastructure, and to services, partnerships, and the way we interact with our customers, whether at home or at work. We are short of the infrastructure that we need to deliver the future.
4.43pm BST
I just spoke to a Defra spokesperson who clarified the government's earlier statement saying the impact assessment supplied to the EU raised questions about the costs. The government could challenge the targets as they progress to the EU Parliament for approval.
But the impact assessment clearly shows that the policy will have positive social and economic impacts. It is unclear where the government's concerns are founded. The table below is drawn from the impact assessment. The proposal issued today most closely approximates the bottom two options. Note that a negative value represents a benefit.
4.14pm BST
A SITA spokesperson has just responded to the green group position that incinerators block the growth of recycling, basically saying that there is enough to go around.
"In essence, our view is that even with enhanced levels of recycling across the municipal and commercial sectors, we are still unlikely to have enough treatment capacity in the UK as whole to deal with future volume of residual waste. There is, therefore, unlikely to be a shortage of feedstock for EfW facilities - which would have a negative impact on recycling.
"Residual waste and recyclate is very mobile these days and any municipal sector residual waste shortfall is more than likely to be made up by the C&I sector - which typically struggles to deliver its own landfill-alternative treatment infrastructure because it is unable to guarantee returns on long-term investment. That is why the majority of our EfW facilities also have capacity to take C&I waste from out commercial sector streams alongside the long-term municipal stream which secures investment."
4.00pm BST
The value of recycled waste is generally higher than then cost of collection, according to this data from WRAP, supplied to me by Zero Waste England (ZWE). Which seems to undermine what ZWE's Chris Harmer calls the "myth" that high recycling is inherently expensive to achieve - which the government seems to be indicating in its earlier statement.
3.47pm BST
Many countries in Europe, and councils in the UK, have reduced landfill by building incineration plants. These plants burn waste for energy. Green campaigners have challenged the plants on many fronts, including their emissions of greenhouse gases and dioxins into the local atmosphere. But the major argument made against these plants is that they retard progress on recycling by locking councils into long term contracts that commit them to supply a certain amount of waste and pay the incinerator for the service.
An example is a recently signed contact between SITA UK and a group of west London councils that will bind the council to a 25 year obligation. A plant costs around £200m to build, hence the length of the contract. The argument for incineration is that it diverts waste from landfill, thus reducing the problems of land-use, cost and greenhouse intensive methane emissions that are associated with landfill. The cost for councils to send their waste to be burnt and turned into energy is comparable (or less)b than landfilling.
"This plot is by waste disposal authority (WDA) some WDAs contain multiple waste collection authorities (lower tier of local government) so this does not directly portray the variation in the recycling rate of waste collection authorities in England. Roughly a quarter of English WDAs seem to be in a place where depending upon the conditions of their contracts they would find it difficult, in the short-term, to move to high recycling rates."
3.14pm BST
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs manages the UK's waste stream. A Defra spokesperson said the government felt the 70% target may place unfair impositions on the community.
We think the Commissions proposals may have underplayed the potential costs to business, householders and local authorities and will want to consider the impacts fully before we respond.
2.27pm BST
The Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire councils have managed to reach recycling levels above 65% using a three bin system where food waste is separated from dry recyclates and non-recyclable waste.
I spoke to Patrick Marples, a South Oxfordshire resident and publican at the Bear at Home in Moreton. He told me that recycling was "not a topic of conversation" in the area. He said people's attitudes towards the programme were mostly guided by whether they cared about the environment.
There is little correlation between recycling rates and cost. Source: Zero Waste England pic.twitter.com/X0gCsFid82
You will see that the two best performing councils, which are actually Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire, are actually about in the centre of the cost axis. There is a deeply entrenched myth amongst many waste officers and councils that the higher the recycling rate, the more it costs they claim that their councils cannot afford the luxury of a high recycling rate. That can be true, if they are inefficient in their systems and particularly if their contracts lack incentives. The reality is that direct cost increases can be almost entirely offset by the market sale value of clean recycled material, and the simple fact that the more you recycle, the less residual you dispose of and hence you save on disposal costs.
1.54pm BST
David Palmer-Jones, chief executive of recycling and incineration firm SITA UK, told Recyclopedia the UK's resources were already too strained to deal with the targets.
The EU wants rightly to move us from a throw-away to a re-use based society - but we are still in the UK a long way from getting close to that ideal. We are likely to miss the initial 50pc recycling rate set for 2020. Upping the target by effectively nearly half again in another ten years time is simply not pragmatic right now without an understanding of the as-yet-unquantifiable cost implication.
1.28pm BST
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) waste and resource management expert panel chair Nigel Mattravers said the new recycling targets were important in prioritising recycling goals.
The new 70% target is however extremely ambitious for the UK given the momentum behind the current 2020 goal of 50% recycling has flat lined, and meeting it will require strategic leadership and coordination.
ICE believes this could be achieved through the creation of an Office for Resource Management sitting within Government this would ensure the circular economy principle is fully understood and entrenched right across Government. It would also be responsible for liaison with devolved administrations in the pursuit of UK wide targets or EU regulations.
These proposals are weak and insufficient and dont give a full picture of all the resources Europe consumes, such as the land and water we use to make our products. The EU is committed to reducing resource use by 2050. A 70% recycling target by 2030 is a big step forward, but if the EU really wants to take this issue seriously it must start measuring all the land, water, carbon and materials Europe is responsible for using and set out clear plans to reduce them.
"Together with the focus on separate collection of food waste, the use of an overall indicator and target for resource efficiency, a strong focus on eliminating recyclable wastes from landfill and the emphasis on building a recycling society with greater employment opportunities this is a package that should fire up the ambition of Europe for a more circular economy and provide a step change in the way we think about and treat resources formerly regarded as waste."
12.26pm BST
There are a multitude of different approaches to recycling from councils across Europe. Some are proactive, some less so. Here are some reader comments about their experiences.
There does not seem to be a standardised system throughout the UK. In Tameside where I lived we had a selection of decent sized wheelie bins (some Luddites actually complained about having to have all these different coloured receptacles). Next door in Stockport some decent sized bins were issued but also some of those silly little boxes mentioned by someone else in this comments section. Of course some people in our street were in serious need of recycling education. Their fortnightly collected residual rubbish bin was still put out with the lid open at 45 degrees and sometimes a black rubbish sack by the side as well. It will be difficult to achieve 70% whilst a significant number pf people have this "Can't be bothered" or "My bit of unsorted rubbish makes no difference" attitude.
First my rubbish got collected every week then because of EU recycling rules it was every two weeks. I guess the EU want us to end up with monthly rubbish collections now. We already have giant rats and will not be long at this rate that the plague returns to our streets.
Rather than making bin collections fortnightly, they should have recycling collections weekly! I end up putting excess recyclables in the regular bins as living in a house with 4 housemates, fortnightly recycling collections result in us having way more than we can fit in out recycling boxes (of which we have 3!).
Also, my area still doesn't collect food waste, which is good not only for composting and reducing landfills, but also solves the issue with the smelly tikka masala in the bin!
@karlmathiesen It's easy to get well above 90% in West Oxfordshire. I put bin out once a year. Everything else #reduced #reused #recycled
Of course it's do-able. Our Council in Carmarthen is way ahead of many English councils in its recycling operation. All we need is more push from government, stronger regulation, a favourable economic environment and, most importantly, a culture change by supermarkets and consumers to reduce unnecessary packaging.
I am fortunate to live in a region of Britain (Devon) where recycling rates are over 50%, and rising. Our local council assists with a good domestic collection service (although for some reason they rely on us to take glass to the recycling centre) and a good network of recycling centres. Of course, we can do more to cut waste, by refusing plastic bags at shops, for example. We do not need or want incineration plants (even though one is being built nearby) which are an expensive symbol of failure. Waste can be reduced rather than burned or dumped in holes in the ground, or at sea, or in foreign countries (what a crime!) But waste can be (and should be) challenged at the retail end. I don't think the big supermarkets are doing enough to prevent waste - packaging continues to multiply; and surely we 'consumers' should be changing our habits, for example, ditching plastic water bottles (the biggest con in retail history, to package drinking water, a perfectly good source being from the taps in our dwellings). Working on all 3 fronts - institutional/local government, retail, individual behaviour - we can reach 70 percent in this country. In Austria and Germany, they're almost there already: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-recycling-rates-europe
This issue is one in which government must ACTIVELY participate. How about a coordinated national strategy for waste recycling and reduction? I see little from the 'mainstream' parties which encourages me. This is an isssue (like so many others) where 'the market' and laissez-faire thinking cannot deliver.
12.22pm BST
I'd be interested if anyone has any information on recycling nappies? It seems like there are private services available, but it is not something local councils participate in.
"The majority of people think that you cannot recycle nappies, when in fact you can." Hmm, it's true that the technology exists, but it is not widely available (and there have been concerns that the plastic pellets produced by nappy recycling firm Knowaste are of limited commercial use). Knowaste also closed down its only local plant last year...Does anyone have more information about recyclable nappy schemes in London? I'm all for cloth, but for some it's not a realistic solution, and kerbside recycling for disposables should be the norm.
11.38am BST
Leo Hickman's story about the German town where recycling was already at 70% in 2011 is worth a read, if only to find out why there's a deer's head in a wheelie bin.
The citizens of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse take their recycling very seriously. So much so that there is even a collection point at the recycling depot for dead animals.
"People bring their dead dogs here," says Stefan Weiss, one of the town's waste managers, as he steps into a refrigerated shed and opens the lid on a wheelie bin containing a deer's head recently deposited by a local hunter.
11.30am BST
One of the major drivers of recycling is social engagement. Recycling programmes require community buy in and rely on the efforts of individual householders.
A poll conducted by Pod Space asked 1015 residents of the UK and Ireland about their attitudes on recycling. People said they were motivated to participate by concern for the environment. But there is a large degree of scepticism about how effective recycling can be.
11.16am BST
The Guardian's Fiona Harvey reports on the release of the circular economy package:
The new targets will be difficult for the UK to meet, as recycling rates have recently stagnated after a period of rapid growth in the past decade. 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. That figure was just 12% in 2001 but the UK is still well behind Austria and Germany which recycle 63% and 62% of their waste respectively.
The coalition government has been notably hostile to moves to try to improve recycling rates through fortnightly bin collections and charges on unrecycled rubbish. Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, famously declared: I firmly believe that it is the right of every English man and woman that their chicken tikka masala, the nations favourite dish, the remnants can be put in the bin without the worry that a fortnight later it is rotting and making life unpleasant.
11.11am BST
The recycling targets are a small part of the EU's attempt to steer the continent towards a future in which resources are used again and again. The EU environment commissioner Janez Potonik said today:
We are living with economic systems inherited from the 19th century [while todays world is characterised by] emerging economies, millions of new middle-class consumers and interconnected markets. If we want to compete we have to get the most out of our resources, and that means recycling them back into productive use, not burying them in landfills as waste.
10.53am BST
"Britain really can exceed 70% recycling rates and move towards a zero waste society," says Zero Waste England director Jane Green.
"In Spain and Italy, a minority of councils already exceed 80%. Wales and Scotland have a strategy to achieve 70% by 2025 and move on to zero waste. Two Oxfordshire councils are already at nearly 70%.
"This is being done with simple kerbside collection of dry recycling, food waste and residuals. Sales of well separated recycling, plus reduced disposal costs, offset any increased collection costs and provide an income stream.
10.16am BST
The European Commission will today release its circular economy package, which is expected to include a binding recycling target of 70%.
The targets, if accepted by the EU Parliament, will update the Waste Framework Directive in an effort to cut extraordinary levels of landfill and waste across the continent.
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