Environment Act becomes law

A landmark legislation, that tackles waste and increase recycling among other measures, has now passed into UK law.

Environment Act, aimed at protecting and enhancing environment for future generations, has become law during the UK’s hosting of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

It has measures to clean up the country’s air, restore natural habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce waste and make better use of resources. The law envisages a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.

It will also look to halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas.

These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which will hold government and public bodies to account on their environmental obligations.

“The Environment Act will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth,” Environment Secretary George Eustice said. “We are setting an example for the rest of the world to follow.”

The government said the work on implementing Environment Act policies is well underway, including the consultations on the deposit return schemes for drinks containers, extended producer responsibility for packaging and consistent recycling collections.

The Office for Environmental Protection was set up in an interim, non-statutory form in July, providing independent oversight of the government’s environmental progress and accelerating the foundation of the full body. The OEP will formally commence its statutory functions shortly.

“I am delighted that the Act creates the independent Office for Environmental Protection, and gives us the tools for our job – to protect and improve the environment by holding government and public authorities to account. We are well underway with establishing a functionally independent, fully operational OEP from early in the new year,” Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the OEP, said.

On the issue of waste and recycling, the Environment Act will deliver:

• Extended producer responsibility to make producers pay for 100% of cost of disposal of products, starting with plastic packaging
• A deposit Return Scheme for single use drinks containers
• Charges for single use plastics
• Greater consistency in recycling collections in England
• Electronic waste tracking to monitor waste movements and tackle fly-tipping
• Tackle waste crime
• Power to introduce new resource efficiency information (labelling on the recyclability and durability of products)
• Regulate shipment of hazardous waste
• Ban or restrict export of waste to non-OECD countries