Half of waste and recycling datasets phased out since 2010

The number of datasets published fell by an average rate of 6% per year between 2010 and 2022 – dropping from 31 available datasets at its max to 12.

Oliver Lawton, co-founder of CuSP and managing director of Lawton Tubes, said: “The former government has set a dangerous precedent by relaxing its vigilance in regard to environmental reporting. Not only do these reports provide valuable insights that inform waste management policy, but they also hold businesses to account over poor waste treatment practices.

“The diversion of funding away from environmental research and protection means businesses from some of the highest-polluting sectors are now under less scrutiny, derailing the progress that has been made by others to decarbonise.”

Defra’s budget also decreased significantly in this time period, while funding for environmental protection was halved.

The report highlights that the drop in environmental dataset reporting may be in part linked to the UK’s exit from the EU as regulations surrounding waste management reporting were changed.

For instance, the UK is no longer required to report on the treatment of waste across different NACE areas – a classification system used by the EU to categorise different economic activities such as construction and manufacturing.

With the Labour government emphasising its commitment to reducing waste and moving to a circular economy, campaigners are calling on the government to reinstate key environmental reports.

Co-founder of CuSP and head of sales at Mueller Europe, Andrew Surtees, commented: “Over the last decade the UK has moved away from the European community in its commitment to corporate sustainability, with funding cut for research and regulators given diminished powers.

“In the construction industry, we have seen new products that are neither made with recycled materials nor recycled at the end of their lifecycle pushed by manufacturers, adding to already excessive levels of waste emissions at a time when the sector is falling further behind in its net-zero commitments.

“The Labour government’s pledge to minimise waste is welcome but must be backed up by decisive action, starting with a thorough review of the current state of waste and recycling in industries like construction that have long been able to escape scrutiny.”