UK increases packaging recycling targets

Archiv – The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the United Kingdom has confirmed its intention that packaging waste recovery and recycling targets for Great Britain will increase from 2008 onwards.
In this year alone the new, higher targets will save over 8m tonnes of CO2 from being emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere, helping in the fight against dangerous climate change. United Kingdom | The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the United Kingdom has increased its packaging waste recovery and recycling targets for Great Britain from 2008 onwards.
The new overall recovery targets of 72% in 2008, 73% in 2009 and 74% in 2010 will ensure that the UK will meet the 2008 EU Directive target of recycling at least 60% of its packaging waste. To reflect current market factors and updated data on Great Britain’s recycling performance for aluminium and glass, the increases in targets for aluminium and glass for 2008 are slightly smaller than those on which were consulted. They still represent an increase over the 2007 targets, and will rise steadily year-on-year
Over the next year, Defra will be working with the industry, Local Authorities, the Wate Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and others to develop a package of measures to increase aluminium recycling. According to Defra, significant improvements in the collection and sorting arrangements are needed, particularly for beverage cans in the household and on-street waste streams.
Joan Ruddock, Minister for Waste, comments that ’Reducing, recovering and recycling packaging is an important way in which business, Government and the consumer can work together to reduce greenhouse gases. These increased targets represent our commitment to drive up recycling in Great Britain and tackle dangerous climate change.’