Thank you for contacting me about reducing waste and reusing products.
I am aware that the Government’s Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste programme sets out priorities for action to manage resources and waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy across key sectors. It also embeds the circular economy approach by retaining materials and goods in circulation for as long as possible and at their highest value, including through increasing reuse, repair and remanufacture.
I understand that an estimated 155,000 tonnes of smaller household electricals such as cables, toasters, kettles and power tools are inappropriately thrown in the bin every year. The Government has proposed to increase collection levels of waste electrical and electronic equipment. These include UK-wide collections of waste electricals directly from households, large retailers rolling out collection drop points for electrical items in-store, as well as retailers and online sellers taking on responsibility for collecting unwanted or broken large electrical items when delivering a replacement.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a consultation on these reforms, seeking views on longer-term ways of ensuring that the waste electrical and electronic equipment system supports the circular economy. I am assured that Defra has worked closely with manufacturers, major retailers and small and medium enterprises throughout the consultation period to ensure that the most efficient and accessible options become a reality. This consultation was open until 7 March 2024 and can be found here: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/product-regulation-and-producer-responsibi… look forward to reading a summary of the responses to this consultation and the Government response once it is published.
Finally, Defra’s Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that people across England will benefit from a more comprehensive, consistent and uncomplicated recycling service. This will, in turn, improve recycling rates, which will lead to more recycled material in the products we buy- and so the UK recycling industry grows.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.