Waste strategy for England 2007

It has been estimated that if every country consumed natural resources at the rate of the UK, we would need three planets to live on. Given this scenario, reducing waste is a key aspect of sustainable development, breaking the link between economic growth and waste growth. This White Paper sets out the Government’s policy for waste management in England, building on the progress made since the Waste Strategy 2000 (Cm. 4693-I, ISBN 9780101469326 and Cm. 4693-II, ISBN 9780101469333) was published in May 2000. The main elements of the new strategy are: i) to incentivise efforts to reduce, re-use and recycle waste and recover energy from waste, including increasing the landfill tax escalator and consulting on removing the ban on introducing local household charges to promote waste reduction and recycling; ii) to reform regulation to drive the reduction of waste and diversion from landfill while reducing costs to compliant businesses and the regulator, including introducing waste protocols, consulting on the introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable wastes or recyclable materials, and ensuring effective action on flytipping and on illegal dumping abroad; iii) to target action on materials, products and sectors with the greatest scope for improving environmental and economic outcomes, including promoting producer responsibility through setting packaging standards to reduce excess packaging; iv) stimulate investment in collection, recycling and recovery infrastructure, and markets for recovered materials to maximise their energy value; and v) to improve national, regional and local governance, with a clearer performance and institutional framework to deliver better co-ordinated action and services on the ground, including the establishment of a Defra-led Waste Strategy Board to provide leadership within and across government.

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