The UK government is pouring over £1 billion into local recycling services with the aim of improving critical infrastructure and collections.
Circulation Minister Mary Krieg announced the plan on Saturday, saying the reforms would improve local recycling collections and reduce taxpayer costs.
Under an outdated regime, bills disposing of items such as milk bottles, cereal boxes and soup cans are currently covered by local councils, with taxpayers putting it into law.
With government change plans in place, the investment will unlock local growth, create new green jobs across the country, and increase the recycling rates of households that have been unable to show significant improvements over the years.
Innovation in packaging waste management
Through the responsibility of the new expansion producers of the packaging scheme, the companies that produce packaging pay a significant share of the costs associated with recycling.
Creagh said:
“This revolutionizes the way we deal with waste and ensures that much of today’s garbage will be recycled into tomorrow’s packaging.”
This scheme works by charging companies that meet the cost of collecting and recycling it using packaging. Costs are higher for materials that are difficult to recycle, and there are lower places where packaging can be reused or restocked.
This will encourage businesses to use less amount of packaging, move to more recyclable materials, design new products that can be reused more easily, thereby preventing waste from being sent to national landfills and incinerators.
The Environment Secretary has made it clear that all councils must use this fund to provide improved packaging waste collection services to the community. Packuk can reduce future allocations if the evidence indicates that it is being used for other purposes.
Improved local recycling services for residents
Next year, the UK Council will receive £1.1 billion to improve recycling services for its residents. This can be spent providing a recycled collection streamlined by local residents.
The funds can also be used to build new infrastructure and to cover the costs of upgrades to facilities where councils send household waste.
This includes Veolia’s integrated waste management facility in Southwork. This will process and process the materials collected from the home and send them to transform them into new products.
“We look forward to investing in the critical services our local government partners provide to collect and recycle more materials, and we look forward to supporting brands and producers not only to recycleable designs, but to include recycled content in our products.”
Clean the UK one step at a time
The responsibility of the expansion producers of packaging schemes is a key part of the government’s packaging reforms, with industry estimates supporting 25,000 new jobs and paying £10 billion of investments in new sorting and processing facilities over the next decade.
Along with the responsibility of packaging expansion producers, the government introduced a deposit revenue system in 2027. This provides a financial incentive to return empty drink containers to collection points such as local supermarkets so that bottles and cans are recycled.
A sensible and practical approach to collecting materials from home and workplaces has also been introduced. Simpler Recycling for Workplaces was released in March 2025 and released for households in March 2026. It will increase local recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.
Measures to clean up the UK will work with the Circulation Economic Task Force to develop a set of specific roadmaps for improving and reforming the approach to using materials supported by the Circulation Economic Strategy, which will be published in the fall.
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