Department for Transport: Recycling
(asked on 1st July 2021) - View Source
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on his Department's rates of recycling of plastic, paper, metal and other products; and if he will make a statement.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has made a formal commitment to increase its rates of recycling through the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs).
The GGCs for 2016-2020, which have been extended to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, ask departments to “continue to improve our waste management by reducing the overall amount of waste generated and increasing the proportion which is recycled.”
Between 2016 and 2021 DfT has delivered on these targets, reducing the total waste generated and increasing the percentage of waste recycled year-on-year, as outlined in the table below:
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Total Waste (tonnes) | 4,522 | 4,403 | 3,955 | 3,010 | 2,110 |
% Recycled | 46% | 48% | 50% | 64% | 65% |
A new phase of GGCs for 2021-2025 is due to be published by Defra, which will set out updated recycling targets, which the Department for Transport will commit to deliver.