Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to spread best practice on recycling.

Dr Thérèse Coffey, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Life Opportunities: Defra works with local authorities and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to provide advice and promote best practice among local authorities on waste and recycling. Local councils, and householders have played a key role in increasing the UK’s recycling rate from 11% at the turn of the century to 44% in 2015/16.

Greater consistency in local authority recycling – taking account of best practice – in particular has potential to increase recycling rates further. WRAP are working with an Advisory Group of waste stakeholders, to look at the benefits and opportunities from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems to enable local authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.

Recycle Now, launched in 2004, is the national recycling campaign for England. It is supported and funded by Defra and managed by WRAP. It is used locally by over 90% of Local Authorities in England and includes information to inform people about the many items that can be recycled around the home.