What you need to know
The COVID-19 outbreak is set to result in a fall in commercial and industrial waste generation as well as a significant drop in construction waste. In contrast household waste is set to increase with people spending more time at home. As some councils have scaled back on recycling collections and household waste recycling centres have been closed, this is likely to result in lower household recycling rates in the short-term.
Longer-term, though, this is still a sector that has real scope for development and innovation. The Resources and Waste Strategy for England and subsequent Environment Bill provide clarity on how the government intends to achieve its circular economy ambitions. The strategy contains key actions on how the government plans to tackle plastic, packaging and food waste, boost recycling rates and increase investors’ confidence to develop recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.
However, key proposals remain subject to further consultation and the COVID-19 crisis which has disrupted the legislative process could delay the implementation of proposed measures. This means there is some way to go before a new waste and resource management system emerges.
Key issues covered in this Report
The impact of COVID-19 on the UK waste management sector.
Outlook for UK waste generation taking into account COVID-19.
How the government plans to achieve its circular economy ambitions.
Market drivers for investment in UK reprocessing and recycling industry.
Covered in this Report
This Report analyses the source of waste arisings in the UK, and the collection, treatment and disposal of that waste, particularly concentrating on the collection and disposal of domestic, commercial, industrial, building and demolition refuse, which can be broadly defined as the element of waste available to commercial contractors.
For the purpose of the report, the sources of waste arisings in the UK are defined as:
Household waste - waste arising from residential premises and collected by household collection rounds, street sweeping, litter collection and separate garden waste collection services. This also includes waste collected from civic amenity sites, any waste collected for recycling or composting through bring/drop off schemes and kerb-side collection.
Commercial waste - waste arising from any premises used wholly or mainly for trade, business activities, including sport, recreation, education or entertainment, excluding any municipal and industrial waste.
Industrial waste - waste arising from any factory and premises occupied by an industry.
Construction and demolition waste - waste arising from the construction, repair, maintenance and demolition of buildings and structures. This mainly includes brick, concrete, hardcore subsoil, and topsoil, as well as some timber, metal and plastics.
‘Other’ - waste from mining, agriculture, forestry and fishing. The report also refers to municipal waste, which is defined by Defra as “including household waste and any other wastes collected by a waste collection authority, or its agents, such as municipal parks and gardens waste, beach cleansing waste, commercial or industrial waste and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials".
Roughly 89% of municipal waste comprises household waste, with the remaining 11% included in other sections, such as commercial, industrial, and construction and demolition, for the purposes of the market size sector of this report.
The report occasionally refers to gross value added (GVA), which is an economic measure that quantifies how much a sector contributes to the economy by taking away input costs from the value of the sector’s output.
