Defra commissions Resource Futures to provide national waste composition

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has appointed independent environmental consultancy, Resource Futures, to deliver a waste composition analysis for waste ‘as received’ at treatment and disposal facilities.

Running until July 2024, the purpose of the project is to provide up-to-date quantitative data on the composition of Local Authority (LA) derived household municipal waste at the major points of treatment, transfer, and disposal across the United Kingdom (including England and the Devolved Administrations). The findings will be used as a baseline for packaging extended producer responsibility (pEPR) modelling.

In delivering the study, Resource Futures has partnered with leading experts from across the resources and waste sector including SUEZ, WRAP, Greyparrot, Dsposal, Alfred H Knight and APEM Ltd.

Working in close collaboration with the Project Steering Group, comprising colleagues across Defra and representatives from the devolved administrations, Resource Futures will first formalise project requirements before undertaking fieldwork across the four nations over a year-long period.