Circular Economy and Waste
Overview
Waste and circular economy policy has a long legislative lineage: Resources and Waste Strategy 2018 → Circular Economy Package 2020 → Environment Act 2021 targets → Residual Waste TDP 2025 → Circular Economy Growth Plan (expected early 2026). The key 2030 interim target is 437kg residual waste per capita; the 2042 final target is 287kg.
Departmental positions
| Department | Position | Key commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Defra | Lead | 287kg residual waste per capita by 2042; Simpler Recycling; DRS October 2027; pEPR |
| Local authorities | Delivery (collections) | Simpler Recycling household rollout March 2026 |
| PackUK | pEPR delivery | Extended Producer Responsibility from April 2025 |
Strategic coherence assessment
Coherent. This is the most internally coherent policy domain in the corpus:
- The target delivery plan has a clear four-measure framework (Simpler Recycling, pEPR, DRS, Circular Economy Growth Plan) expected to deliver 82-100% of interim reductions.
- The policy lineage is clear and continuous.
- The primary risk is the ~15-month monitoring lag — early warning of delivery problems will arrive late.
- DRS (October 2027) is the highest-stakes remaining delivery milestone.
Key upcoming milestones
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| March 2026 | Simpler Recycling household rollout |
| Early 2026 | Circular Economy Growth Plan |
| October 2027 | Deposit Return Scheme launch |
Open questions
- Is the Circular Economy Growth Plan (expected early 2026) published?
- What is the current residual waste per capita trajectory?
- Is pEPR phased implementation proceeding on schedule?