Wilf Lytton

December 2018

Last week, the Government launched its much-anticipated Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) for England. The RWS focuses on eight areas: the production of waste; the consumption of resources; resource recovery and waste management; waste crime; food waste; the UK’s global leadership on waste; research and innovation; and monitoring, reporting and evaluation of waste streams. The RWS marks the first step by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to initiate new policies to minimise waste, promote resource efficiency and move towards a circular economy. DEFRA will release policy proposals for consultation in early 2019. The RWS has a particular focus on plastic and food waste, which will be analysed in this response.