The government is introducing complex new rules about waste, with the aim of making all councils collect the same things.

Wiltshire Council officers are trying to understand how the ‘Simpler Recycling’ regime will affect collection contracts, funding, and the service to the public. They point out that the recent appointment of a new Environment Secretary could cause more changes to the proposals.

One good thing is that manufacturers who make the waste in the first place will have to pay a tax, and some of the funding from that may be passed on to local authorities.

The option of stopping councils from charging for green waste collection seems to have been dropped, so Wiltshire will continue to charge.

One significant change is likely to be the compulsory introduction of weekly food waste collections. Some councils do this already, but WC has always resisted the idea. The government has stipulated 31/3/26 as the date by which they have to be introduced, though WC thinks it might be able to delay implementation due to the existing contracts, which require a certain amount of residual waste to be collected.

Here is the government’s specification for the new regime:

Dry recyclables

Glass: glass packaging including bottles and jars.

Metal: steel and aluminium tins and cans, steel and aluminium aerosols, aluminium foil, aluminium food trays, steel and aluminium jars and bottle lids, aluminium tubes.

Plastic: plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, including amorphous, recycled PET), polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE); pots, tubs, and trays made of PET (including amorphous, recycled, and crystalline PET), PP (including expanded PP) and polyethylene (PE); PE and PP plastic tubes larger than 50mm x 50mm; cartons for food, drink, and other liquids, including aseptic and chilled cartons; plastic film packaging and plastic bags made of mono-polyethylene (mono-PE), mono-polypropylene (mono-PP) and mixed polyolefins PE and PP, including those metallised through vacuum or vapour deposition (to be included from 31 March 2027)

Paper and card: All paper and card except:

• paper and card that contains glitter or foil
• paper that is laminated
• stickers and sticky paper
• padded lined envelopes
• paperback and hardback books
• wallpaper
  
• Food waste
  
• all food intended for human or household pet consumption, regardless of whether it has any nutritional value
• biodegradable material resulting from the processing or preparation of food, including inedible food parts such as bones, eggshells, fruit and vegetable skins, tea bags and coffee grounds
• 
  Garden waste
  
  All organic material from the garden except:
• ash
• full-sized trees
• invasive weeds and species
• soil
• turf cuttings
• waste products of animal origin

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