Waste and resources
The national policy landscape defines the Council ’s statutory obligations and a number of key national strategies inform our management of waste and recycling, the most recent of which include the Environment Act 2021 and the policies that stem from this and the Resources and Waste Strategy 2018, such as Simpler Recycling. This includes:
- Consistency in collections across local authorities, which requires all Councils to collect the same types of recycling, including food waste by March 2026 and soft plastics by March 2027.
- Extended producer responsibility, which is intended to shift the financial burden of dealing with packaging waste from local Councils to packaging producers.
- Deposit return scheme, which will enable residents to return containers for recycling at points across the borough.
- A revised Waste Prevention Programme on how to move towards a more resource-efficient economy, by reducing waste in the first place, and increasing recycling rates.
These government strategies have a significant impact on the way in which the Council is required to deliver its waste and recycling collection services and the 10-Year Plan for Waste remains under constant review to ensure we are well-placed to respond as the national landscape develops. This year the Council will publish a revision to its 10-Year Plan for Waste, with an increased focus on reuse and circular economy and to support the transition to a recycling rate of 65% by 2035. In the meantime, we:
- Work closely with our residents to make sure our recycling is not contaminated – thanks to our residents, North Tyneside still has one of the lowest contamination rates across the country.
- Provide a variety of sites where residents can deposit harder-to-recycle materials for reuse, upcycling or recycling, such as textiles and electronics, as well as lots of additional glass and plastics recycling points across the borough.
- Divert almost all non-recyclable waste from landfill.
- Making preparations to deliver an efficient food waste collection service in line with national requirements.
- Work with a variety of community groups to promote reuse and recycling at our beaches and elsewhere.
The Circular Economy
The circular economy presents an opportunity to prevent waste and its contribution to air pollution and climate change. As a society we must consume less, waste less, whilst reusing, repairing, sharing and recycling more. Our 10 Year Plan for Waste reflects these principles of the waste hierarchy and the Council ’s use of second-hand electric vehicle batteries to maximise solar generation is an example of circular economy in practice. In many cases, circular alternatives are also better, cheaper and, more efficient than new options, particularly if produced and purchased locally. North Tyneside already boasts examples of local businesses and initiatives that embrace this approach and the Council is working to support the expansion of community projects and businesses that place circular economy and net-zero at their heart to help create resilient, thriving neighbourhoods. The circular economy forms the backbone of the Council ’s refreshed Plan for Waste, published in 2024.
Waste emissions
Waste treatment represents around 6% of the Council ’s wider carbon footprint (which excludes emissions from the Council ’s waste collection vehicles, which are captured in Scope 1 emissions). Whilst not as significant as other operational emissions, this is a hard-to-abate sector and net-zero for this source of emissions can only be achieved by working with our communities to develop alternative approaches to how we consume and dispose of everything we buy and embrace a shift transition to a circular economy. Non-organic forms of waste – this includes in particular all plastics and many textiles and electricals – have a high carbon footprint and produce far more carbon when disposed of through EfW than other waste materials.