Imagine a country where each person contributes a staggering 3.3 tonnes to a mountain of waste every single year—welcome to the UK, a nation grappling with a complex waste landscape where everything from 6.4 million tonnes of discarded food to 125 million tonnes of construction debris tells a story of both challenge and remarkable progress in recycling and recovery.
Key Takeaways
- In 2021, the UK generated 222 million tonnes of total waste managed, equivalent to 3.3 tonnes per person
- Household waste in England in 2021/22 totalled 27.2 million tonnes, with an average of 481kg per household
- Commercial and industrial waste in the UK in 2020 amounted to 89.4 million tonnes, representing 37% of total waste managed
- UK's household recycling rate reached 44.9% in 2021/22 for England
- UK recycled 61% of non-hazardous waste managed in 2020, totalling 136 million tonnes
- Paper and card recycling rate in England households 2021/22 was 82%
- Landfill disposal in UK 2020 was 23 million tonnes non-hazardous, 10% of managed
- Incineration with energy recovery treated 17 million tonnes waste in England 2021/22
- Anaerobic digestion capacity in UK processed 2.5 million tonnes organic waste in 2021
- UK waste industry turnover was £15.6 billion in 2021
- Waste management sector employed 117,000 people in UK 2021
- Recycling sector contributed £6.5 billion GVA to UK economy in 2020
- UK's landfill tax rate standard £98.60 per tonne 2021/22
- EU Landfill Directive target achieved: biodegradable MSW to landfill 35% of 1995 by 2020 UK
- Simpler Recycling legislation England requires business/food waste collections from 2025
The UK waste industry manages massive amounts of construction and household waste, recycling more than half of it.
Economic and Employment
- UK waste industry turnover was £15.6 billion in 2021
- Waste management sector employed 117,000 people in UK 2021
- Recycling sector contributed £6.5 billion GVA to UK economy in 2020
- Landfill operators generated £1.2 billion revenue in UK 2021
- EfW industry worth £1.5 billion annually in UK by 2022
- UK waste collection services market size £5.4 billion in 2022
- 4,200 waste management businesses in England 2021
- Anaerobic digestion sector created 10,000 jobs in UK 2021
- Composting industry turnover £0.8 billion UK 2020
- Waste treatment and disposal market £10.2 billion UK 2022
- Materials recycling facilities (MRFs) 1,200 sites employing 20,000 UK 2021
- Construction waste recycling firms turnover £4 billion 2020
- Hazardous waste management sector £2.1 billion revenue England 2021
- Waste export trade value £0.9 billion for recovery UK 2020
- Local authority waste services cost £4.5 billion in England 2021/22
- UK bioenergy from waste generated £1 billion in 2021
- Recycling jobs grew 5% to 45,000 in UK 2020-2021
- EfW plants employ 3,500 directly in UK 2022
- Waste logistics and haulage £3.2 billion market UK 2022
- Green investment in waste tech £0.5 billion 2021 UK
- SME waste firms 70% of sector, employing 60,000 UK 2021
- Landfill gas energy production worth £100 million annually UK
- Circular economy contribution to UK GDP 3% or £50 billion including waste
- Waste brokerages turnover £1.8 billion UK 2020
- AD biogas electricity generation 4 TWh worth £300 million 2021
- Household waste collection contract values average £10 million per LA England
- UK waste management investment £2.5 billion planned 2022-2027
- Recycling R&D spend £150 million annually UK firms
Economic and Employment Interpretation
The UK's waste industry, with its £15.6 billion turnover and 117,000 employees, proves that one nation's trash is not only another man's treasure but a surprisingly serious and complex £50 billion pillar of the economy.
Policy and Regulation
- UK's landfill tax rate standard £98.60 per tonne 2021/22
- EU Landfill Directive target achieved: biodegradable MSW to landfill 35% of 1995 by 2020 UK
- Simpler Recycling legislation England requires business/food waste collections from 2025
- Producer Responsibility Regulations updated 2023 for packaging, plastics, batteries
- Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice enforces segregation since 2018 update
- Environment Act 2021 sets waste hierarchy legally binding in England
- Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) planned Scotland 2022, delayed to 2025 UK-wide
- Commercial Waste Duty of Care from April 2024 England
- Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 consignment notes mandatory England/Wales
- Landfill Ban on untreated waste Scotland since 2010, NI 2025 target
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging full costs from 2024 UK
- WEEE Regulations collect 52% market share target achieved UK 2021
- Plastic Packaging Tax £200/kg recycled content from April 2022
- Resources and Waste Strategy England targets 75% municipal recycling by 2025
- Circular Economy Package influences UK post-Brexit targets 65% recycling 2035
- Food Waste Reduction Roadmap targets 20% less by 2025 UK
- Textile EPR consultation 2023 for UK producers pay full net costs
- Waste Carrier Broker Dealer registration mandatory Environment Agency
- Site Waste Management Plans required for projects over £300k England until 2013, now voluntary
- Aggregates Levy £2.00 per tonne funds environmental projects £500m since 2002
- Incineration Emissions Directive strictly regulates dioxins UK plants
Policy and Regulation Interpretation
The UK's waste policy is a potent brew of punitive taxes, strict laws, and ambitious targets that together declare: "We're done simply burying our problems, both literally and figuratively."
Recycling and Re-use
- UK's household recycling rate reached 44.9% in 2021/22 for England
- UK recycled 61% of non-hazardous waste managed in 2020, totalling 136 million tonnes
- Paper and card recycling rate in England households 2021/22 was 82%
- Metal recycling from household waste in England 2021/22 achieved 92% rate
- Glass recycling rate for UK packaging 2020 was 76%
- Plastic packaging recycled in UK 2020 was 0.5 million tonnes out of 2.3 million generated, 22% rate
- Food waste recycled via anaerobic digestion in England 2021 was 1.4 million tonnes
- WEEE recycling in UK 2021 treated 0.9 million tonnes, 75% of collected
- Construction waste recycled/reused in UK 2020 was 91% of non-hazardous C&D waste
- Textile reuse and recycling in UK 2019 diverted 360,000 tonnes from waste, 15% rate
- Composted organic waste in England 2021/22 was 2.9 million tonnes from households
- Aluminium packaging recycling rate UK 2020 was 54%
- Steel packaging recycled 82% in UK 2020
- Reused waste in UK totalled 5.2 million tonnes in 2020
- Scotland's household recycling rate 2021 was 63.9%
- Wales achieved 65.2% local authority recycling rate in 2021/22
- Northern Ireland recycling/composting rate for municipal waste 2021 was 51%
- Dry mixed recycling from households in England 2021/22 was 5.1 million tonnes
- UK wood waste recycled 76% in 2020
- Rubber waste recovery rate UK 2020 was 95%
- Hazardous waste recycled in England 2021 was 1.2 million tonnes, 27% rate
- Furniture wood reused/recycled 60% in UK 2019
- Tyres recycled in UK 2020 was 480,000 tonnes, 87% rate
- Biodegradable municipal waste recycled in England 2021 was 7.8 million tonnes
- Plastic bottles recycling rate UK 2020 was 57%
- Cardboard recycling from C&I sector 2020 UK 90%
- Overall UK re-use rate for waste 2020 was 2.3%
- England's kerbside recycling collection 2021/22 covered 99% of households
- UK recycled aggregates from C&D waste 2020 was 72 million tonnes
Recycling and Re-use Interpretation
We're brilliantly recycling our metals, glass, and paper like eco-champions, yet we're tragically casual with plastics and overall reuse, proving we're still a nation of selective savers when it comes to saving the planet.
Waste Generation and Composition
- In 2021, the UK generated 222 million tonnes of total waste managed, equivalent to 3.3 tonnes per person
- Household waste in England in 2021/22 totalled 27.2 million tonnes, with an average of 481kg per household
- Commercial and industrial waste in the UK in 2020 amounted to 89.4 million tonnes, representing 37% of total waste managed
- Construction and demolition waste comprised 52% of total UK waste managed in 2020, totalling 125 million tonnes
- Food waste from UK households in 2021 was estimated at 6.4 million tonnes, or 120kg per household annually
- Plastic packaging waste generated in the UK in 2020 was 2.3 million tonnes
- Paper and card waste in England households 2021/22 was 4.5 million tonnes, 16% of total household waste
- Metal waste from UK manufacturing in 2019 was 5.2 million tonnes
- Glass waste arisings in the UK in 2020 totalled 2.1 million tonnes
- Organic waste made up 28% of household waste in England in 2021/22
- Textile waste from UK households in 2019 was 1.36 million tonnes, or 30kg per person
- WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) arisings in UK 2021 estimated at 1.2 million tonnes
- Agricultural waste in the UK in 2020 was 103 million tonnes, 43% of total waste
- Inert waste from construction in England 2021 was 47 million tonnes
- Hazardous waste generated in England 2021 totalled 4.5 million tonnes
- UK municipal solid waste generation per capita in 2020 was 512kg
- Wood waste arisings in UK 2020 were 8.9 million tonnes
- Leather and rubber waste in UK 2020 was 1.1 million tonnes
- Chemical waste production in England 2021 was 0.8 million tonnes
- Sewage sludge production in England 2021/22 was 1.1 million tonnes dry solids
- Furniture waste from households in UK 2019 estimated at 1.01 million tonnes
- Tyres waste arisings in UK 2020 around 550,000 tonnes
- Animal and vegetal oils waste in UK 2020 was 0.3 million tonnes
- Mixed municipal waste generation in Scotland 2021 was 2.3 million tonnes
- Wales household waste arisings 2021/22 totalled 1.6 million tonnes
- Northern Ireland municipal waste 2021 was 0.9 million tonnes
- UK total non-hazardous waste managed 2020 was 222 million tonnes
- Biodegradable municipal waste generated in England 2021 was 10.2 million tonnes
- Soil and stones waste category dominated C&D with 90 million tonnes in 2020 UK
- Total waste from mining and quarrying in UK 2020 was 55 million tonnes
Waste Generation and Composition Interpretation
While each of us individually managed a small garage's worth of junk last year, collectively the UK built a sprawling, toxic metropolis of 222 million tonnes from our homes, industries, and fields, proving we're far more productive at constructing waste than we are at deconstructing it.
Waste Treatment and Disposal
- Landfill disposal in UK 2020 was 23 million tonnes non-hazardous, 10% of managed
- Incineration with energy recovery treated 17 million tonnes waste in England 2021/22
- Anaerobic digestion capacity in UK processed 2.5 million tonnes organic waste in 2021
- Hazardous waste landfilled in England 2021 was 0.9 million tonnes
- Transfer of waste in England 2021/22 was 42 million tonnes LACW
- EfW (energy from waste) plants in UK incinerated 8.4 million tonnes MSW in 2021
- Landfill tax revenue in UK 2021/22 was £0.7 billion
- Open windrow composting treated 2.1 million tonnes in England 2021/22
- UK landfill sites reduced to 1,945 in 2020 from 2,968 in 2016
- In-vessel composting of LACW in England 2021/22 was 0.8 million tonnes
- Residual waste sent to landfill from households England 2021/22 11.5 million tonnes
- Energy recovery rate for non-hazardous waste UK 2020 was 16%
- Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) processed 1.2 million tonnes LACW England 2021
- Hazardous waste to incineration England 2021 0.7 million tonnes
- Scotland landfill ban for untreated waste since 2010 diverted 95% biodegradable waste
- Wales residual waste landfilled 2021/22 0.3 million tonnes
- NI municipal waste to landfill 2021 0.4 million tonnes, 44% rate
- UK EfW capacity increased to 5.6 million tonnes per year by 2022
- Landfilled C&D waste UK 2020 6 million tonnes
- Sewage sludge incinerated in England 2021 0.4 million tonnes dry solids
- Transfer stations handled 50 million tonnes waste UK 2020
- Deep landfill injection for hazardous waste minimal, 0.1 million tonnes England 2021
- AD plants in England increased to 450 by 2022, processing 3 million tonnes capacity
- Residual waste EfW in Scotland 2021 0.6 million tonnes
- UK waste exported for disposal 0.2 million tonnes in 2020
- Landfill capacity remaining in England 2021 148 million m3
- Incineration without energy recovery negligible, less than 1% UK waste 2020
Waste Treatment and Disposal Interpretation
While England, stubborn as ever, sent over 11 million tonnes of household waste straight to the grave, the UK's waste story is one of grudging progress, where landfills are slowly being outsourced to incinerators and we've finally learned that our trash can at least pay its heating bill.
Sources & References
- Reference 1GOVgov.ukVisit source
- Reference 2WRAPwrap.org.ukVisit source
- Reference 3EEAeea.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 4GOVgov.scotVisit source
- Reference 5GOVgov.walesVisit source
- Reference 6DAERA-NIdaera-ni.gov.ukVisit source
- Reference 7LETSRECYCLEletsrecycle.comVisit source
- Reference 8ONSons.gov.ukVisit source
- Reference 9STATISTAstatista.comVisit source
- Reference 10IBISWORLDibisworld.comVisit source
- Reference 11ADBIORESOURCESadbioresources.orgVisit source
- Reference 12RENEWABLEUKrenewableuk.comVisit source
- Reference 13UKRIukri.orgVisit source
- Reference 14LEGISLATIONlegislation.gov.ukVisit source