Defra pinpoints drop in household recycling while predicting 2026 reforms will improve rates

15 Feb 2024 --- The UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has released 2022/23 household recycling figures for England, revealing an overall rate of 43.4%, indicating a 0.7% decrease from the previous year and strengthening hopes by B Corporations such as Ecosurety that the “Simpler Recycling” reforms will turn this trend around.

The total weight of waste recycled fell from 10.2 million metric tons to 9.3 million in 2022. Moreover, dry recycled material dropped by 7.1% to 5.5 million metric tons, according to Defra’s annual results for 2022/23.

But the amount of waste disposed of in landfills also decreased by 16% from 1.8 million metric tons in 2021/2022 to 1.5 million metric tons in 2022/2023, as did waste sent for incineration, which decreased by 0.3 million metric tons. 

Simpler Recycling reforms to the rescue?
Food waste recycling also fell by 2.6%. Ecosurety says this finding may indicate reduced household food waste, but recycling is predicted to increase once mandatory food waste collections are introduced as part of the Simpler Recycling reforms.

The reforms will ensure that from March 31, 2026, all English households can recycle food, drink and other liquid cartons, mandating their collection alongside plastic and other dry-recyclable materials, Richard Hands, CEO of ACE UK, recently told us.

Household waste recycling rates dropped across England, finds Defra.“We believe, if implemented successfully, the Simpler Recycling reforms will significantly help level the playing field and improve recycling rates in England. A consistent set of materials, collected in the same manner for recycling nationwide, should help dispel household confusion and encourage more domestic recycling infrastructure,” Louisa Goodfellow, policy manager at Ecosurety, tells Packaging Insights.

“Equally, the introduction of collection for recycling soft plastics and flexibles in 2026 should galvanize the collection of these materials, further boosting recycling rates.”

In December 2023, recycling charity Recoup released its annual UK Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey, demonstrating a drop in year-on-year plastic packaging use and collection quantities in the UK for the first time.

Disparities between local authorities
Defra’s data highlights the disparity in recycling performance between local authorities, ranging from 17.7–61.6%. 

Goodfellow says that performance in household recycling is affected by several well-established factors such as socio-economic indicators, housing type and geography. 

“While we can’t comment specifically on factors affecting local authority performance, it is well cited that variables such as location, demographic indicators and housing type play a big role in influencing recycling performance. For instance, urban areas with a high density of flats usually show lower recycling rates due to a lack of individual and segregated bins,” she says.

Nonetheless, incoming Simpler Recycling reforms should again help to lessen the gap between authority catchments. Furthermore, Ecosurety says that other policy measures, such as EPR for packaging, might see England’s recycling rates increase, too. 

Once implemented, modulated fees under EPR will in effect penalize harder-to-recycle materials by charging producers a larger proportion of local authority incurred packaging waste costs. 

“Working alongside EPR, Simpler Recycling measures will ensure a consistent set of materials are collected from domestic and business premises, including food waste and the mandatory collection for recycling of flexible plastics by 2026/27,” concludes Ecosurety.

By Natalie Schwertheim