Within the document, the partnership has pledged to increase its recycling rate from 45.5% in 2019/20 to 65% in 2035, as well as reduce landfill from 30% to 5%.
The partnership has set out a number of pledges on how it will do this.
One of these pledges was to introduce a separate food waste collection for all households, subject to government funding.
It will also ensure that the full range of recyclables specified by government and subject to funding are collected from residents across Leicestershire by 2025.
The partnership has also pledged continue to explore the viability of adding extra materials to recycling collections (e.g. for batteries, small electric goods or clothing) aiming to keep Leicestershire’s performance “above the national average”.
Prevention
It warned that if the national 65% recycling rate is to be met, the amount of residual waste managed by councils will need to fall from around 620kg per household to around 360kg.
To do this, the Partnership pledged to support and encourage waste prevention activity across Leicestershire.
This will include working with stakeholders, residents and communities to prevent unnecessary waste arising, for example through food waste reduction campaigns such as Love Food Hate Waste.
The Partnership pledged to continue delivering reuse services and expand activities where practicable, working in partnership with other stakeholders and to signpost to places that advocate for waste
prevention and reuse, in support of developing a circular economy.
Consultation
A 12-week public consultation is taking place from 31 January 2022 to 25 April 2022, seeking views about future recycling and waste services.
The strategy has 11 pledges that sit alongside the government’s proposed national changes to waste collections in order to meet the 65% national recycling target by 2035.
The draft pledges also include other measures aimed at supporting and encouraging waste prevention
The new strategy comes after the 2017 target of 58% recycling, set in the 2002-2022 waste strategy, was missed.
There is an urgent need for us to work towards a circular economy
- Blake Pain, Leicestershire county council
‘Urgent’
Leicestershire county councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda, said: “There is an urgent need for us to work towards a circular economy, where we reduce the impacts of climate change and take steps to live more sustainably.
“Over 40 per cent of all household waste in Leicestershire is currently recycled. These figures include reuse, recycling and composting for both kerbside collections and waste deposited at our recycling and household waste sites.”
Register for free to comment