Environment Minister rejects criticism over waste

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Environment Minister Trudy Harrison has dismissed opposition claims that the government’s new waste reduction target lacks ambition.

In a parliamentary committee examining the new target yesterday, Labor MP Daniel Zeichner said the target of reducing residual waste by 50% by 2042 contained a major oversight by excluding mineral waste from construction, demolition and excavation.

This type of waste, although easier to manage than other waste streams, accounts for the majority of waste produced in England and comes with environmental costs, Zeichner explained.

He also said government modeling showed a 25% reduction in residual waste between 2024 and 2028, arguing this was a license for low-ambition waste reduction policies throughout the 2030s. .

Harrison dismissed those claims, saying the new goal was very ambitious.

I also remind members that the Environment Act 2021 requires the Secretary of State to be satisfied that the objectives can be achieved, she continued. Our analysis is therefore based on a credible policy path that can be modelled, and concludes that a 50% reduction target is at the upper limit of feasibility.

As things stand, we produce far too much waste. The goal of halving residual waste is a crucial legal mechanism to move materials up the waste hierarchy, so that we make the best and most productive use of them.

Zeichner, however, backed up his claim by pointing out that government modeling suggested that 91.9% of waste is either readily or potentially recyclable or can be replaced with recyclable materials.

The 50% target falls short of what is necessary and achievable, he said.

Environment Secretary Thrse Coffey had been criticized for missing a legal deadline to publish the target by the end of October.

The committee also considered targets for biodiversity, woods and trees, water, marine protected areas and fine particles.

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