Plastic recycling targets

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

1. Statistics on plastic waste

1.1 Plastic packaging waste and recycling

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) publishes annual figures on plastic packaging waste and recycling in the UK, compiled from the national packaging waste database and industry reports.^[1] Its latest dataset, published in July 2025, shows plastic packaging produced had decreased from approximately 2.6mn tonnes in 2012 to 2.3mn tonnes in 2024, and the achieved recycled or recovered rate had increased from 25.2 percent in 2012 to 51 percent in 2024.

1.2 Household plastic waste

An April 2024 survey of 225,000 participants from 77,000 households by Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic, a social enterprise organisation which campaigns to raise awareness on the impact of plastics, estimated that UK households discard approximately 1.7bn pieces of plastic weekly (around 60 pieces per household).^[2] This is equivalent to 90bn items discarded annually. The two most counted items were snack packaging (699,932 pieces) and fruit and vegetable packaging (697,085 pieces). The survey also found that 58 percent of the pieces of plastic packaging thrown away were being incinerated, an increase from 46 percent in 2022.

1.3 Local authority waste collections

Analysis by WRAP, an environmental action non-governmental organisation, published in October 2023, noted that local authority collection rates for plastic waste were “improving”.^[3] It estimated that UK local authorities had collected 6.1mn tonnes of household plastic packaging for recycling in 2020/21, a 4 percent increase on the previous year. It also noted that in 2021/22, all local authorities collected plastic bottles, 83 percent collected pots/tubs/trays, 16 percent collected at least one type of plastic film and 5 percent collected all film types.

1.4 Exports of plastic recycling waste

WRAP’s report also detailed trends in where UK plastic had been recycled.^[4] It noted that prior to 2010, the UK mainly increased its plastic packaging recycling through exports. However, since then, most growth in recycling had mainly been supported by domestic recycling, increasing by more than 240 percent between 2010 and 2021. Despite this, the UK remained “reliant” on exporting its plastic recycling waste, with 47 percent of accredited UK plastic packaging recycling reported as exported. Turkey was the largest single destination for UK recycling exports (26 percent), with the Netherlands, Poland and Spain together accounting for 41 percent, and six other countries making up a further 16 percent.

2. Existing recycling waste targets and initiatives

In recent years, there have been several government and non-government targets and initiatives focused on recycling waste. This includes the recycling municipal waste target, the UK plastics pact, and the UK packaging pact.

2.1 Recycling municipal waste commitment

The ‘Resources and waste strategy’, published in 2018, outlined the then government’s ambition to recycle 65 percent of municipal waste in England by 2035.^[5] In line with the ambition, the then government amended the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 in 2020 (through the Waste (Circular Economy) (Amendment) Regulations 2020) to contain a commitment that the government include in a waste management plan for England measures to be taken to ensure that 65 percent of municipal waste had been prepared for re-use or recycled by 2035. In the 2021 ‘waste management plan for England’, the then government stated that it would introduce measures to increase recycling from households and businesses. These were “expected to increase recycling from households from current levels to 65 percent by 2035”.^[6] The proposed measures included introducing consistent recycling collections by local authorities and the possible creation of a deposit return scheme (discussed in section 4 of this briefing).

2.2 UK plastics pact

Launched in 2018 by WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the “UK plastics pact” brought government, businesses and non-governmental organisations together to create a circular plastics economy and eliminate “problematic” plastics by 2025.^[7] Its four targets were to eliminate problematic single-use packaging; ensure 100 percent of plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable; achieve 70 percent of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted; and reach 30 percent average recycled content across all plastic packaging.

2.3 UK packaging pact

Announced by WRAP in 2025 as the successor to the UK plastics pact and launching in April 2026, the “UK packaging pact” aims to “accelerate the shift to a circular packaging system” through material optimisation, scaling reuse models and extending the lifecycle of materials.^[8] It is set to take place over 10 years. Its four targets are to optimise packaging design and recycled content; scale reuse and refill systems; support circular infrastructure investment to ensure collected materials are recycled; and harmonise data, reporting and traceability to reduce costs and administrative burdens.

3. Progress against some of these targets and initiatives

Successive governments have previously claimed that they were progressing towards meeting recycling waste targets. However, several stakeholders have expressed concern about delays to collection and packaging reforms in meeting those targets.

3.1 Recycling municipal waste target

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee opened an inquiry in early 2023 into the government’s resources and waste reforms, including the existing target to recycle 65 percent of municipal waste by 2035. The committee published its report in December 2023.^[9] It criticised the then government for the “significant delays” to collections and packaging reforms.^[10] This included delays to the extended responsibility scheme and the deposit return scheme (discussed in section 4 of this briefing). The committee warned that although the government had expected the simpler recycling scheme (also discussed in section 4 of this briefing) to increase overall recycling rates from 42 percent to between 52 and 60 percent by 2035, “without significant contributions from other projects, [this] would leave it well short of its 2035 target”. Therefore, the committee called on the government to explain how it was expecting to achieve its recycling targets.^[11]

The then government accepted the recommendation in its response to the committee, published in March 2024.^[12] It stated that a “multi-layered approach” was “essential” to increase recycling rates and that its collection and packaging reforms would get the government close to the target.^[13] However, it admitted that modelling had suggested that meeting the commitment would require policies beyond the reforms and that work was “underway” on other policy areas to “help reach this target”, including consulting on reviewing the waste electrical and electronic equipment regulations.

In response to an October 2025 parliamentary question on the Labour government’s progress in delivering its collections and packaging reforms programme, Mary Creagh, a parliamentary under secretary at Defra, stated that the government “had passed or is on track to pass all the necessary legislation to deliver the collection and packaging reforms programme” and was “making strong progress” on achieving the 2035 target in England, “after a decade of stagnating recycling rates”.^[14]

3.2 UK plastics pact

In November 2023, WRAP published its latest annual report on the UK plastics pact, which reported mixed progress against the four targets: a 99.6 percent reduction in problematic items; 71 percent of plastic packaging recyclable; 55 percent of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted; and 24 percent average recycled content levels in plastic packaging.^[15] WRAP stated that recycling rates were “going in the right direction” but cautioned that several policy measures it expected to support the targets, such as the simpler recycling scheme, had been delayed, which meant that two of the four targets would not be met by 2025.

4. Successive governments’ policies on recycling and waste

In recent years, successive governments have announced policies to improve and incentivise plastic waste recycling, including extended producer responsibility schemes that require producers to contribute to the costs of waste management, reforms to simplify recycling services for households and non‑domestic premises, and plans to introduce a domestic deposit return scheme for plastic drinks containers.

4.1 Simpler recycling scheme

First proposed in 2018 as part of the then Conservative government’s ‘Resources and waste strategy’, the ‘Simpler recycling’ scheme was launched in England by Defra in October 2023.^[16] It established a “default requirement” to collect seven separate waste streams from households, non‑domestic premises and businesses, with plastic films excluded until 2027.^[17]

In November 2024, the present government published a policy update on the scheme.^[18] It said it had inherited legislation that “could have required households to have up to seven bins, placing an unnecessary burden on people and businesses”. Therefore, it stated that it was “simplifying the rules to make recycling easier for people in England, while stimulating growth and maximising environmental benefits” and that local authorities and other waste collectors would be able to co-collect some waste streams by default. The update outlined that the new default arrangements for most households and workplaces would normally use four containers: residual (non-recyclable) waste; food waste (mixed with garden waste, if appropriate); paper and card; and all other dry recyclables (plastic, metal and glass). The update confirmed the previously announced implementation timetable and said that secondary legislation implementing the updates would be laid in December 2024. The government laid the Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2025 in February 2025, which came into force on 31 March 2025. The scheme’s implementation began on a phased timeline, starting from 31 March 2025 for non-household premises and 31 March 2026 for households.

4.2 Deposit return scheme for drinks containers

In 2018, Defra committed to developing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers (DRS) in its ‘25-year environment plan’ and ‘Resources and waste strategy’, with powers to establish a DRS contained in the Environment Act 2021. A 2021 consultation covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland showed strong support (83 percent) for the scheme and set an initial expected start date of October 2025.^[19] A joint policy statement by the then government and devolved administrations, published in April 2024, recorded further engagement with industry and stated that there had been a revised launch timetable of October 2027.^[20]

On 3 November 2025, the current government responded to a written question on its progress in meeting the October 2027 deadline.^[21] In her response, Mary Creagh confirmed that the scheme would launch across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland on the specified date and that UK Deposit Management Organisation Limited, which was appointed to operate the schemes in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, was “continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme”.

4.3 Extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 introduced the extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme, making producers cover the full costs of managing household packaging waste while local authorities continue to run collections and receive pEPR funding. PackUK, within Defra, administers the scheme, setting fees, billing obligated producers and distributing funds to local authorities. Under the scheme, obligated producers must register with the appropriate environmental regulator, submit accurate packaging data within specified deadlines, pay applicable fees and retain records for audit.^[22] In June 2025, Defra published the base fees for 2025/26, the first year of the scheme. They included, for example, plastic at £423 per tonne and glass at £192 per tonne. From the second year (2026/27), fees will be adjusted based on recyclability using a rating system.^[23] The scheme also set packaging recycling targets for businesses. In relation to plastic, the targets were 55 percent in 2025; 57 percent in 2026; and 59 percent in 2027.

5. Read more

• House of Commons Library, ‘Packaging extended producer responsibility’, 7 October 2025
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, ‘Reducing plastic waste’, 31 July 2024
• House of Commons Library, ‘Plastic waste’, 20 March 2024

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Image by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.