The UK have been recycling their waste for around 80 years, however, this has taken on a number of different forms. In recent years, government and private sector initiatives involving sustainability and environmental protection have become commonplace. Plastic Expert will take a look back over the past two decades, exploring how much has changed in the recycling world since the turn of the century.
Changes in Government Legislation Towards Recycling and Sustainability
- 2000 - Creation of WRAP: Waste and Resources Action Programme - receives funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the Northern Ireland Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, the Welsh Government and the European Union.
- 2003 EU legislation on WEEE products - regulations on how to dispose of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
- 2003 UK Household Waste Recycling Act. The law stated that all local authorities must collect at least two types of recyclable waste materials from households by 2010.
- 2008 - Waste Framework Directive. Created by the EU. Legislation and regulation on waste disposal and treatment across Europe.
- 2008 - Climate Change Act. This act placed the UK as the first nationa to have a legal, long-term framework created to cut CO2 Emissions. It’s aim is to be carbon neutral by 2050.
- 2010 - Environmental Permitting Regulations. Strict legislation on the storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste.
- 2015 - 43.5% of the UK’s municipal waste was recycled
- 2015 - The introduction of the 5p single-use plastic bag charge. This charge sparked the birth of taxing single-use plastic. The result was an 80% drop in plastic bag use in the UK.