Environment Secretary Michael Gove has been accused of having “raided” 400 staff from state environment bodies in order to plug gaps in Defra’s workforce in preparation for Brexit.

The European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services (FEAD) has called on the European Commission to simplify the Waste Shipment Regulation and harmonise enforcement across EU member states.

The government has been criticised by Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee for its approach to environmental policy post-Brexit, after it failed to commit to replacing EU legislation that cannot be easily transposed into UK law.

Three quarters of the UK public want the government to ensure that businesses produce repairable and recyclable products, while 90 per cent believe that all packaging should be made recyclable, according to a new survey conducted by Cardiff University.

A tax will be placed on the manufacture and import of plastic packaging containing less than 30 per cent recycled plastic, the Treasury’s Autumn Statement has revealed, though a coffee cup levy will not be introduced.

Around five million tonnes of fossil-based CO2 was emitted from the UK’s waste incinerators in 2017 from the burning of fossil-based materials such as plastics, according to a new report by the UK Without Incineration Network.

Fourteen member states at risk of missing the EU’s 2020 recycling targets have been provided with action plans by Eunomia to get back on track.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is still short of 1,400 staff as the Brexit deadline of March 2019 approaches, having already recruited 1,300 new employees since April 2018.

A new report from the Environment Agency shows that 93 per cent of the businesses it regulated in 2017/18 showed good compliance with their environmental permits, while non-compliant businesses faced record fines.

Giles Kirkland examines what the changing automotive industry means for car battery recycling in the UK.