The Climate Change Committee's Sixth Carbon budget suggests that 80% of the UK's CO2 reduction in the waste sector to 2035 should be achieved through waste prevention, increased recycling and banning biodegradable waste from landfill. This will require a huge increase in recycling rates across the city, as well as large scale behaviour change.
The Environment Act 2021 has the potential to have a big impact on how local authorities deal with waste. That said, carbon emissions resulting from waste are still some of the most difficult to calculate, and subsequently some of the most difficult to mitigate through action. The basic principle of Reduce, Re-use, Recycle within the waste hierarchy has been consistently adopted across the city and this year's resulting actions continue to follow that theme. Alongside increasing recycling rates, actions also look at targeted waste audits to further understand how residents utilise the waste collection service.
3.70 - Research waste reduction and barriers to recycling in Plymouth using community feedback and service data to inform a new campaign on waste reduction and recycling to improve the quality and quantity of Plymouth's household recycling.
3.71 - Improve waste collection route planning to reduce failure demand by optimising the use of national and local data.
3.72 - Continue to work with partners to ensure that, where practical and economical, recyclable material is processed and recycled in the UK – with a preference for the South West peninsula.
3.73 - Work with the Government to evaluate the 2018 Resource and Waste Strategy and 2021 Environment Act to ensure local authorities are provided with effective powers and additional resources.
3.74 - Engage schools through development of Plymouth education and activity resources to increase recycling and re-use.
3.75 - Work with 'Borrow, Don't Buy: Plymouth's Library of Things' to highlight opportunities to repair and re-use tools and develop skills.
3.76 - University Hospital Plymouth will work towards recording an 85% avoidance of waste going to landfill by 2025.