UK Government waste & recycling datasets fell by 50% under Conservatives

Between 2010 and 2022, the quantity of rubbish-related figures published by Downing Street fell by 6% each year, hindering progress. 

Published by the Copper Sustainability Partnership [CuSP], overall datasets released by the Government over an 11 year period fell by 50%, with just 12 shared publicly in 2022 compared with 30 in 2010. 

During this time, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs saw its budget slashed, with more than half of funds dedicated to environmental protection removed. Austerity which continued throughout the decade continued to obstruct large scale research projects, which could have prevented trials of new waste and recycling programmes and technologies. 

Several steps were also taken to stimulate economic growth at the expense of the climate, including a 2013 directive from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills which stipulated regulators should avoid imposing ‘unnecessary burdens on businesses.’ Meanwhile, the UK’s exit from the EU in 2019 led to widely reported changes in environmental standards, including waste management reporting. 

‘The former government has set a dangerous precedent by relaxing its vigilance in regard to environmental reporting. Not only do these reports provide valuable insights that inform waste management policy, but they also hold businesses to account over poor waste treatment practices,’ said Oliver Lawton, Co-founder of CuSP and Managing Director of Lawton Tubes. ‘The diversion of funding away from environmental research and protection means businesses from some of the highest-polluting sectors are now under less scrutiny, derailing the progress that has been made by others to decarbonise.’

‘Over the last decade the UK has moved away from the European community in its commitment to corporate sustainability, with funding cut for research and regulators given diminished powers,’ added Andrew Surtees, Co-founder of CuSP and Head of Sales at Mueller Europe. ‘In the construction industry, we have seen new products that are neither made with recycled materials nor recycled at the end of their lifecycle pushed by manufacturers, adding to already excessive levels of waste emissions at a time when the sector is falling further behind in its net-zero commitments. The Labour government’s pledge to minimise waste is welcome but must be backed up by decisive action, starting with a thorough review of the current state of waste and recycling in industries like construction that have long been able to escape scrutiny.’

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