The “seven bins” message was reported widely by the media to form part of Defra’s consistent recycling reforms, though this was never formally confirmed.
The move was confirmed in a press conference held on Wednesday (20 September) which was brought forward after the plans were leaked, including proposals to scrap “burdensome” recycling reforms (see letsrecycle.com story).
In today’s speech Rishi Sunak mentioned “seven bins” twice.
First, he described it as a “government diktat”.
When saying it will be scrapped, he added: “The debate around how we get to net zero has thrown up a range of worrying proposals. Today, I want to confirm that under this government, they will never happen.
“The proposal that we should force you to have seven different bins? I’ve scrapped it.”
There was no mention of extended producer responsibility or a deposit return scheme.
Legislation
The consistent recycling reforms for households and businesses fall under the Resources and Waste Strategy 2018, introduced by then environment secretary Michael Gove. The legislation was made law under the Environment Act.
They outlined a core set of materials which would be collected by every local authority, including separate food and garden collections.
The plans were first consulted on in 2019, before a second consultation was launched in 2021. Since then, local authorities and the wider industry have been calling for more clarity, with Defra remaining quiet on any progress.
Defra last week insisted that the consistency response is due “soon”, and even last week the department’s permanent secretary, Tamara Finkelstein, said the response was due “very imminently” (see letsrecycle.com story).
This suggests that the decision could have been taken from above them in central government.
Since Sunak’s announcement, Defra unveiled a ‘Simpler Recycling’ scheme (see letsrecycle.com story), which it says will ensure a consistent set of materials are collected but rules out seven bins, though said “this was never the case”.
Response
When the news was first released earlier today, the leading sector associations all raised concerns in statements given to letsrecycle.com, saying it could see “billions in investment lost” (see letsrecycle.com story).
Scrapping of consistent recycling reforms were one of seven policies watered down, including others on electric vehicles, heating, carpooling, flight taxes and energy.
* This article was updated at 19:21 on 20 September to reflect that Rishi Sunak scrapped plans to introduce “seven bins to householders”, not necessarily the entire consistency legislation.
If we’re meeting zero waste targets a lot of these bins will soon become waste. There could be some sense in this but the devil is in the details. Perhaps citizens and businesses would do better to engage with the EEESafe model.
If DEFRA is lending us their support we must be doing something right?