Defra has established food waste, urban recycling and the benefits of resource efficiency as ‘high-level’ R&D priorities in the department.

Kier’s £120-million waste services contract in East Sussex is to be terminated early after recycling market issues hit the firm last year.

WRAP has developed its second regional partnership, this time with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, in an effort to increase recycling and waste prevention in the conurbation.

With European guidance still going through the bureaucratic process and national policy seemingly well down the pecking order, local and regional authorities can take the reins and steer their areas into a more circular way of living.

Two councils have announced plans to move on from waste contracts with Veolia in the next year, with East Cambridgeshire opting for a Teckal solution and Rushmoor choosing Serco to take on its waste service.

The challenge of improving waste performance in transient domestic rental sectors has been highlighted in a new guide for London boroughs launched yesterday.

Leeds City Council has partnered with retailer Marks & Spencer to deliver a MetalMatters recycling campaign to 350,000 households – the largest single local authority campaign run by the programme.

LWARB has announced a new business plan that will see the creation of a London ‘Flats Taskforce’ to help residents living in blocks of flats recycle more using bespoke interventions.

The Welsh Government is to consult on the possibility of setting an 80 per cent recycling target for local authorities, after noting that it is due to hit its 70 per cent goal ahead of schedule.

The European Parliament has voted to take on proposals to raise the European recycling target to 70 per cent by 2030 and to determine a single calculation method for recycling rates ahead of negotiations for the EU’s Circular Economy Package.