£1 million of funding has been announced by the Waste and Resources Action Programme to support business waste recycling in England as part of a larger investment package provided by Defra.

If targets in the Resources and Waste strategy are to be met, the government must provide adequate funding and allow local authorities to develop recycling strategies and collection systems that are appropriate for their communities, says the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.

Resources Minister Therese Coffey said that there was “no threat to the sustainability of kerbside collections” from a deposit return scheme as she backed an ‘all-in’ model at an evidence session of Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has put his weight behind an ‘all-in’ DRS for drinks containers as part of a speech on the need to act on climate change, pollution and natural degradation.

A majority of the British public wants all food packaging to be made 100 per cent recyclable anywhere in the country, according to a survey commissioned by WRAP and INCPEN.

The Committee on Climate Change says the UK should bring forward a ban on biodegradable waste to landfill to 2025 after a new report published by the Committee revealed the UK to be ‘lagging far behind’ on efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The RDF Industry Group has responded to the Dutch Government’s new tax proposals, warning that they will be ‘counterproductive’ in reducing CO2 emissions.

The UK has reduced the amount of food waste going to landfill by almost two million tonnes since 2013, says a new report from ReFood, but big challenges remain before we can reach zero waste.

Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched an inquiry into the environmental and human health impacts of electronic waste (e-waste) and the opportunities for the circular economy for electronic goods.

Members of the UK Plastics Pact have committed to removing eight problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic items from shelves by the end of 2020 and have identified a further 19 items to take action against by 2025, though campaigners say the industry’s approach is “inadequate”.