The updated targets sit beneath the long-term statutory commitment, set out in the Environmental Targets (Residual Waste) (England) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 30 January 2023, to halve residual waste from 2019 levels by 2042.
Under this goal, England must reduce residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) to 287kg per capita per year by 31 December 2042.
The most significant revision is the new December 2030 milestone, pushed back two years from the original 2028 deadline.
Defra confirmed that the 2030 interim target will require that residual waste (excluding major mineral waste) does not exceed 437kg per capita in the most recent calendar year.
This represents an approximate 24% reduction from 2019 levels, maintaining the ambition of the original 2028 target.
Material-specific interim targets
Defra has also introduced a broader set of material-specific interim limits designed to ensure progress cannot be achieved by shifting waste into other streams. These include:
- Residual municipal waste: 333kg per capita
- Residual municipal food waste: 64kg per capita
- Residual municipal plastic waste: 42kg per capita
- Residual municipal paper and card waste: 74kg per capita
- Residual municipal metal waste: 10kg per capita
- Residual municipal glass waste: 7kg per capita
Defra said the expanded package takes a “holistic perspective”, guarding against unintended consequences, such as swapping from one environmentally harmful material to another.
David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Reconomy Connect, commented on the targets: “These are ambitious targets that come at a time when the government is ramping up its efforts to transition towards a circular economy ahead of the publication of The UK Circular Economy Growth Plan in the New Year, which will focus on five priority sectors with the greatest environmental and economic potential.”
Delivered through packaging reforms
Government modelling suggests that the UK’s collection and packaging reforms will deliver the vast majority of reductions required.
This includes Simpler Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) and Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers.
Collectively, these measures are expected to provide more than one-third of the total residual waste reduction needed for the 2042 target, and as much as 82% to 100% of the reduction required to hit the 2030 interim goals.
Gudgeon added: “The Government sees its three flagship collection and packaging reforms as the critical levers for delivering these targets, with evidence suggesting they could provide the majority of the reductions required.
“With this series of transformative environmental regulations on the horizon, our advice is for businesses to get ahead by preparing early and prioritise optimising resources, doing more with less, preventing waste and decoupling growth from resource use.”
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