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OPRL – the On-Pack Recycling Label organisation – has launched a new labelling system in an attempt to help consumers work out what to do with packaging. The ‘simplified’ labels follow a long period of discussion and for the majority of packaging will now advise consumers to either ‘Recycle’ or ‘Don’t Recycle’. Previously the labels…
The first ever ‘Food Waste Action Week’ has been announced by the Government alongside a £1.5 funding programme to help change the public’s behaviour with regard to and also for transforming food waste into other materials. The Government has a Food Waste Champion, Ben Elliott, who announced the week and urged “everyone to get involved”,…
Supermarket chains could be rushing to stop the use of single plastics and using alternatives that may cause more environmental harm, an environmental report has suggested. The UK environmental think-tank, the Green Alliance, published a report called Plastic Promises in January which was based on interviews with senior packaging and product staff in supermarkets and…
With the UK now out of Europe, the Environment Bill has started to make its way through Parliament and is set to replace some European Union measures as well as introduce fresh ideas from the UK government. At the beginning of February, the Bill passed through its automatic first stage in the House of Commons….
While Brexit looks likely to dominate early political debate and ministerial work in January, 2020 looks set to be a big year in terms of environmental legislation. Top of the tree, within the Parliamentary process, for the environment will be the Environment Bill. This was first announced in the Queen’s Speech that was delivered on…
Concerns about fires caused by the public not removing batteries from toys and other household items have already been raised this year. Early in January Lincolnshire County Council issued a warning over batteries following three small fires at its household waste recycling centres in rubbish deposited by members of the public after Christmas. The fires…
The Recycling Minister, Rebecca Pow, has approved plans which will see larger retailers having to offer instore take-back for waste electrical and electronic equipment from January 2021. On 24 December 2019, Defra said that the minister had approved the takeback requirement. This represents changes to the current UK WEEE system where the main focus on…
Plastics packaging and products using plastics continued to feature in government policy developments ahead of the election period. Facing a ban from next spring, subject to the Parliamentary and political timetable, are three products: plastic straws, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic drink stirrers (with some exceptions). On 28 October, the Department for Environment, Food and…
The recycling and waste management sector has generally responded positively to publication of the Environment Bill subsequent to it being announced in the Queen’s Speech in October. Most commentators welcomed the Bill although there were calls to make sure it progressed and, in particular, delivered fully on the proposal for an Office for Environmental Protection….
A top Defra official has reinforced the government’s commitment to cover the costs of national changes to household waste collections which will derive from the Environment Bill. And, speaking at a recent local authority conference, the official – Chris Preston – also confirmed that a review of the WEEE, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations…
