The Reclaim and Sustain project, delivered by Friends of Bowring Park, ran hands-on sessions across Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens and Wirral aimed at reducing household waste and changing attitudes towards repair. A Fix It Festival and Zero Waste Celebration held at Bowring Park on 7 March brought the programme to a close with live repair demonstrations and drop-in services.

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority said the project showed the difference community organisations can make when given resources to deliver locally. A new round of the Zero Waste Community Fund for 2026/27 has since opened, with up to £30,000 available for projects working across at least four local authority areas in the Liverpool City Region.

The BMRA said all responding operators in a survey relied on RPS 314 to manage shredder residues, with between 75 and 100 per cent of material handled through this route. The trade body submitted a formal proposal to the Environment Agency last month requesting the extension, supported by evidence from operators across England.

Operators report that no viable large-scale alternatives to non-hazardous landfill currently exist, with barriers including waste acceptance criteria exceedances, limited treatment capacity and high costs. Howard Bluck, BMRA technical director, said the extension provided "essential stability" for shredding operators but that "technical and market barriers to alternative outlets remain significant."

The plant produced its first batch of TACOIL, a circular alternative to fossil-based feedstocks, earlier this year. The recycled oil is processed at TotalEnergies' petrochemical sites to produce plastics suitable for food-contact packaging and medical-grade applications.

Plastic Energy's technology is already in commercial use at two plants in Spain. Currently, less than 30 per cent of the roughly 32 million tonnes of plastic waste generated in Europe each year is currently recycled.

According to WRAP, 80 per cent of households put recyclable items in with general waste each week, with 2.3 billion recyclable items binned annually across the UK. From 31 March, local authorities in England will begin collecting a core set of materials including plastic pots, tubs and trays, cartons, metal packaging, glass and food waste under the Simpler Recycling reforms.

Jennifer Brittlebank, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said the agency had "made significant progress" in its investigation. The Joint Unit for Waste Crime and Merseyside Police are also involved. The arrests come as the government prepares to release its Waste Crime Action Plan this week, which includes proposed penalty points on driving licences for fly-tipping convictions and new enforcement powers for the Environment Agency.