In 2023 Defra issued a Call for Evidence seeking views and evidence on how England could eliminate, as far as possible, the landfilling of biodegradable waste from 2028 – a key element to meet zero objectives and develop a robust circular economy. On 12th February 2025, Defra published a summary of the responses to this call.

A few main themes emerged from the responses. Among these, respondents indicated that shutdowns of Energy From Waste (EFW) facilities, seasonal variations in the tonnages and composition of residual waste, lack of storage space, cost and proximity of waste infrastructure were contributing factors in waste disposal choices. Crucially, respondents indicated that landfill is important for contingency situations where other disposal options are not available, and it is essential that government maintains some landfill provision for biodegradable waste.

Relatedly, respondents expressed that government must allow sufficient time for alternative treatment infrastructure to be developed and must engage in rigorous regulation and enforcement to limit misreporting, illegal disposals, and waste crime. Finally, policy must be developed holistically and with the waste sector to ensure there are no unintended consequences, and that additional burdens on authorities are sufficiently monitored

Considering the responses received, Defra intend to explore:

• expanding the list of separately collected wastes that are prohibited from disposal at lan (or incineration) without some form of treatment process to include all 5 CCC recommended materials (paper and card, food, garden waste, textiles and wood), as per responses to Question 37
• determining how we can eliminate wood wastes from being sent to landfill, including as part of a mixed waste
• extending focus to all biodegradable wastes, such as municipal and non-municipal, at the same time, as per responses to Question 50

Defra hopes to undertake a full consultation on developed policies this year pending policy developments and continued stakeholder engagement.

Policy development will include consideration of related policies and associated timings, including the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to waste incineration and energy from waste (EfW).

Read the consultation outcome in full here.