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Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 1st April 2025
Amends: New Legislation
Currently waste authorities and waste collectors across England must collect at least 2 types of recyclable household waste (or similar) separately to general waste from domestic premises, relevant non-domestic premises (residential homes, educational premises, hospitals and nursing homes) and business premises.
The Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2024 extends this requirement to additional relevant non-domestic premises, and provides specific descriptions for the six types of recyclable waste (known as recyclable waste streams) in Schedule 1. The 6 recyclable waste streams are:
The Regulations also support the transition to new rules starting in 2025 which will require the separate collection of recyclable waste streams from domestic, relevant non-domestic and business premises. The new rules will ensure that all councils and waste collectors across England are collecting recyclable waste consistently.
From 30th June 2024 additional types of premises are added to the list of relevant non-domestic premises, from which 2 types of recyclable household waste must be collected from. The five types of premises added are:
The new rules coming into effect in 2025 and 2026 will require every waste authority and collector in England to ensure that all relevant recyclable waste streams are collected separately from general waste from domestic, relevant non-domestic and business premises.
There are also requirements to keep certain recyclable waste streams separate from others.
N.B. The requirement to collect garden waste does not apply to waste collections from business premises or relevant non-domestic premises.
From 31st March 2025 these rules will apply to collections of:
From 31st March 2026 these rules will apply to collections of:
N.B. Some councils have extended deadlines to implement the new rules, these are listed in the Schedule of The Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024.
The overhaul of recycling requirements in England is being implemented through a number of amendments to laws which have been published in advance, so that waste authorities, collectors, organisations and individuals can prepare for the changes.
The wider current duties for waste authorities and collectors under Regulation 13 of The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 continue to apply alongside the old section 45A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which will be repealed when the new rules come into force.
The new rules for waste collections applying from 2025 and 2026 can be found in sections 45A to 45AZG of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which have been replaced through section 57 of the Environment Act 2021, which came into force through The Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024.
Jurisdiction: England
Commencement: 30thJune 2024
Amends: New Legislation
These Regulations describe the recyclable household waste and the recyclable relevant waste* that must be collected separately from households, relevant non-domestic premises** and businesses. The list of non-domestic properties that must arrange separate collections of their household waste is expanded.
*Relevant waste refers to industrial or commercial waste that is similar in composition to household waste.
**Relevant non-domestic properties are non-domestic properties that must make arrangements for the separate collection of recyclable waste streams.
The recyclable waste streams that must be separately collected by waste collectors are:
N.B. Garden waste only applies to collection of household waste from domestic properties.
Background
Section 45A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (‘the Act’) required waste collection authorities to collect at least 2 types of recyclable waste separately from residual waste. This requirement was supplemented by The Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2011, which imposed a duty on all waste collectors to collect paper, metal, plastic and glass separately.
Section 57 of the Environment Act 2021 replaced the old section 45A of the Act and set out new requirements for the separate collection of recyclable waste from households, relevant non-domestic premises producing household waste and premises producing relevant waste, such as businesses.
N.B. Although section 57 is already in force, a transitional period is provided for waste collection authorities and for those responsible to arrange the separate collection of waste.
Various duties apply and are available to view on The Legislation Update Service.
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Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 1st January 2024
Amends: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
Various duties apply.
Producers of packaging must recover and recycle packaging waste in accordance with Schedule 2 (Recycling obligations) of the 2007 Regulations.
The recovery and recycling target for 2024 is updated. Producers must now recover and recycle 80% of packaging waste.
Producers must also meet material-specific recycling targets. The 2024 specific-recycling targets are:
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Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 1st March 2024
Amends: The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020
The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 are made under section 84 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, which allows for the creation of a deposit and return scheme in Scotland for the purpose of waste reduction and promoting recycling.
They set out the legal requirements for producers* and retailers** of scheme articles*** for a deposit and return scheme where consumers are charged a deposit of 20p for each scheme article sold.
* The definition of a producer depends on where the scheme article produced has been branded. Producers are defined as:
A retailer of scheme articles can also be classed as a producer if they package and seal scheme articles themselves and then sell them to consumers for consumption off of the premises.
**Retailers are persons who market or sell scheme articles in Scotland.
***Scheme articles*are drinks sold in packaging that:
In addition to charging deposits, these Regulations require:
These Regulations come into force in the following stages and are expanded upon in the duties section:
These Regulations were bought into force by the Scottish Government to promote a circular economy, encouraging people through monetary incentives to return waste so they can be recycled.
Various duties apply.
The scheme is delayed and now fully comes into force on 1st March 2024.
Low Volume Drink Sales
The marketing or sale (including through online retail or vending machine sales to a consumer in Scotland) of a low volume drink product (a drink product with fewer than 5000 units sold per year) will now be prohibited, unless the producer is listed or registered with Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The seller must also inform the purchaser that the product is not eligible under the return scheme.
Further guidance is issued in the addition of Schedule 5.
Information to be included in the application for producer registration for low volume drink sales can be found here.
Date changes
Regulation 5 (obligations relating to charging deposits and marketing, offering for sale or selling articles) now comes into force on 1st March 2024.
Producers must now apply for producer registration before 12th January 2024 or within 28 days from becoming a producer. In subsequent years, applications must be made before 1st March each year.
SEPA now has 42 days in receipt of an application to either grant or refuse it. The registration takes effect from March 2024 and then 1st April in any subsequent relevant year.
Return points
A retailer whose number of sales of eligible scheme items to consumers for consumption on the premises constitutes 90% or more of that retailer’s total number of sales of scheme articles is exempt from operating a return point. Any exempt premises are required to display exemption information on the premises.
Return point operators are allowed to refuse returned items of a particular material if that material would put them in breach of legal obligations relating to food safety or health and safety. If this is the case then the operator must display signage explaining which materials will not be accepted, and where the nearest accepted return point is.
Hospitality retailers are required to retain scheme packaging for collection by a producer or scheme administrator.
Takeback services
A large retailer must provide a takeback service free of charge to a consumer that:
A large retailer providing a takeback service must now:
Where a takeback service is provided voluntarily by a retailer other than a large retailer, that retailer must comply with the obligations of a large retailer in this regulation.
Review
The 2020 Regulations are now required to be reviewed by 21st October 2027.
Collection Targets
Beginning from 1st January 2025 and ending 31st December 2025, the collection target of the scheme is 80%.
From 1st January 2026 the collection target is increased to 90%.
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Jurisdiction: England
Commencement: 1st January 2021
Amends: Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 set annual business targets for the recycling of packaging waste and apply to all businesses that produce or use packaging. They place an obligation on such businesses to contribute towards the cost of recycling their packaging waste.
This amendment only applies in England.
The current packaging waste recovery and recycling targets expire at the end of 2020. This amendment introduces new recycling targets for 2021 and 2022 and completely removes the obligation to meet recovery targets, with the intention of further increasing levels of recycling across industry.
To implement the new recycling targets and remove the obligation to meet recovery targets, changes have been made to the method for calculating recycling obligations in Schedule 2. These changes include;
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Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 27th August 2020
Amends: European Union (Packaging) Regulations 2014
The European Union (Packaging) Regulations 2014 place legal responsibility on businesses and companies to ensure packaging waste is recycled as much as possible.
These Regulations lay down measures aimed at preventing the generation of packaging waste to reduce final disposal and to contribute to the transition towards a circular economy.
New requirements are inserted for all producers* to recover and recycle packaging waste.
*A producer sells or supplies packaging material, packaging or packaged products to others.
Before 31st December 2025, producers who import packaged products or put product into packaging (i.e. packers or fillers) must take steps to ensure that at least 65% by weight of all packaging waste is recycled.
The following minimum targets by weight for recycling are to be met no later than 31st December 2025:
From 1st January 2026, any producer who imports packaged products or puts products into packaging must take steps to ensure that at least 70% by weight of all packaging waste is recycled. The following minimum targets for recycling by weight are to be met no later than 31st December 2030:
The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (The Minister) is required to ensure that preventative measures are implemented to prevent the generation of packaging waste and to minimise the environmental impact of packaging.
Such preventative measures include, but are not limited to:
The Minister must take measures to encourage an increase in the availability of reusable packaging, without compromising food hygiene or the safety of the consumer.
Such measures may include:
After consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Minister may adjust the recycling target for each material.
Return, collection and recovery systems
The Minister is required to take the necessary measures to ensure that systems are set up to provide for:
By 31st December 2024, the Minister is required to ensure that extended producer responsibility schemes are established for all types of packaging. The Minister is also required to take measures to promote high quality recycling of packaging waste and to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant recycling sectors.
Data to be included in the packaging and packaging waste databases
Schedule 5 introduces a list of data to be included in relation to primary, secondary and tertiary packaging and household and non-household packaging waste.
The quantities for each category of material of packaging consumed, reused, recycled and recovered are to be included in the database.
Schedule 6 introduces the implementation plan to be submitted by the Minister. This must contain the following:
An effective system of quality control and traceability of packaging waste is to be established to ensure these Regulations are met.
The EPA is required to calculate the weight of packaging waste generated and recycled per calendar year (i.e. 1st January – 31st December). The weight of packaging waste recycled is to be measured when the waste enters the recycling operation.
The weight of packaging waste generated and recycled is to be calculated by:
Where biodegradable packaging waste enters treatment, it may be counted as recycled where the treatment generates the following output:
Where the output is used on land, it may count as recycled only if it benefits agriculture or provides ecological improvement.
Please note: As a result of Directive (EU) 2018/852 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, any packaging containing oxo-degradable plastic is not to be considered as biodegradable.
*oxo-degradable plastic packaging is made from plastic materials that include additives that breaks down the plastic material into micro-fragments.
The following end-of-waste materials are not to be counted towards the achievement of recycling targets:
The EPA may take into account the recycling of metals separated after incineration, provided the recycled metals meet the quality criteria laid down in Article 11a(9) of Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (the ‘Waste Framework Directive’).
The EPA is required to report data on reusable packaging for each calendar year to the European Commission. This must be submitted in accordance with the formats established under Article 12 and Annex III of Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and waste, as amended.
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