All the major political parties have outlined their plans for the waste and recycling sector in advance of next week’s General Election.

Among the ideas put forward are proposals for higher recycling rates, a review of resource security, a tax on energy from waste and increased borrowing powers for the Green Investment Bank.

Coalition partners the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have gone in different directions with their suggestions, with waste and resources not mentioned in the Conservative manifesto. The Party did however promise ‘start-up funding for promising new renewable technologies and research’.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto includes a law to reduce waste, a ‘Stern Report’ on resource use and a statutory recycling target of 70% for waste in England. The Party would also consult on an energy from waste treatment tax.

Labour has pledged to make Britain a ‘world leader in low carbon technologies over the next decade, creating a million additional green jobs’. The Party has also promised a review of resource security to unlock the economic opportunities from greater resource efficiency.

The Green Party has outlined the most ambitious policies on waste and recycling, proposing a 50% rise in national spending on recycling by £4 billion a year as well as a 70% recycling target for domestic waste by 2020.

Elsewhere, UKIP has pledged to bring back weekly waste collection, as well as to abolish the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) although this has recently become a charity.