The Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn has today (October 13) outlined plans to make Britain a "zero waste nation", including the expectation that local authorities should offer a full collection service for many recyclable items by 2020.

Mr Benn said that councils needed to collect paper, card, cans, glass, plastic bottles, food and packaging by 2020 and that the Government would encourage local authorities to generate energy from collected food waste.

Hilary Benn called on councils to offer a "full" waste collection service

He said the waste sector should be using new technologies such as anaerobic digestion which re-uses farm and food waste to generate energy.

Speaking at a World Without Waste event today in central London, Mr Benn commented: "We need to rethink how we view and treat waste in the UK. Why do we send valuable items like aluminium and food waste to landfill when we can turn them into new cans and renewable energy? Why use more resources than we need to in manufacturing? We must now work together to build a zero waste nation - where we reduce the resources we use, reuse and recycle all that we can and only landfill things that have absolutely no other use.

"To do this all of us - government, local authorities, businesses and consumers - must do our bit. And we must make this moment the turning point on our journey to eliminate wasteful waste."

Measures 

In addition to full collection services the Government also announced a number of other measures aimed at achieving zero waste. They included:

• Developing a Zero Waste Places Standard to recognise successful waste reduction areas
• Supporting areas which achieve the Zero Waste Places Standard with extra financial support to develop waste reduction services
• And, announcing six new Zero Waste Places in Shropshire, Dorchester, Brixham, Newham, Hoxton and Suffolk to help develop ideas to cut waste in the home, workplace and community

It is hoped that these measures will see 75% of household waste either recycled or used to generate energy within the next ten years.

As expected, the publication of the Government's aims and actions with regard to commercial and industrial (C&I ) waste was also announced (see letsrecycle.com story). The action is to cover four areas including helping business, working with the waste management industry, plugging the data gap and encouraging innovative approaches.

Mr Benn also confirmed that the Government would consult next year on what recyclable and compostable items should be banned from landfill in order to help England halve the amount of waste going to landfill in the next ten years (see letsrecycle.com story).

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham, added: "If we continue to send recyclable or compostable waste to landfill we are missing a major opportunity to generate heat and energy and missing an opportunity to turn that waste into money. We can save planet whilst keeping money in resident's pockets.

"I have recently set out ambitions for councils to play a bigger role in tackling climate change and thinking more creatively about waste is just one way to unlock that potential."

The plans were announced alongside new government research which shows that it is possible to divert 500,000 tonnes of household waste per year from landfill through re-use. This links up with a campaign, due to be launched later this month, which is aimed at encouraging people to reduce and re-use on a more regular basis in addition to continuing to recycle.

In addition to the Zero Waste aims, the government also published its annual progress report into the Waste Strategy today.