The UK Government should set a municipal recycling target of 65 per cent and establish separate food waste collection for households and businesses by 2025 to provide a low-carbon future for the UK, according to the National Infrastructure Assessment.

Ministers from the UK, Welsh and Scottish Governments, as well as officials from Northern Ireland, met on 6 July to discuss plans for a collective deposit return scheme for drinks containers that would operate in all nations of the UK.

The waste management company is working with Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury’s on a project to put recycled black plastic into food packaging.

Last week saw the first ever Circular Economy Week take place in London, encouraging businesses, social enterprises and residents to find out what they can do to aid the city’s transition towards a more circular, resilient and resource-efficient economy.

A new report published by Nextek and Resource Futures sets out frameworks for improving the role of the UK secondary plastics market, warning that many recent initiatives could ultimately detract from efforts to move to a circular economy.

From marine litter and the UK Plastics Pact to China’s waste ban and the future of waste and resources strategy, here are some of our key moments from a busy two days of discussion and debate at CIWM’s Resourcing the Future conference.

The Paper Cup Alliance, which represents UK cup manufacturers, has claimed that a levy on disposable coffee cups could cost the economy £819 million and result in 11,000 job losses in the coffee retail sector.

UK councils could meet EU recycling targets by reducing residual waste collections and increasing separate food waste services – but at a significant extra cost without government intervention, according to a new report from the Environmental Services Association.

The European beverage carton industry is set to launch a new dedicated platform to increase carton recycling across Europe in the wake of the final ratification of the EU’s Circular Economy Packaging by the Council of Ministers.

The European Commission has proposed a full ban on some of the most commonly used and littered disposable plastic products in Europe, including single-use cutlery, plates, drinks stirrers, straws, cotton buds and sticks for balloons.