Recycling services from Shropshire and Telford councils get a £10m boost from the government - here's how it could be spent
Almost £10 million will go into council coffers to improve recycling services in Shropshire - after businesses were told to pay more towards waste collections.
Under new rules announced by the government, companies will be asked to contibute more towards disposing of items like milk bottles, cereal boxes and soup tins, costs currently footed entirely by council tax payers.
The new "Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging" scheme will force large businesses who produce packaging to pay towards the recycling costs of their products, with local authorities across the country set to receive an extra £1.1 billion.
Shropshire Council will receive an extra £6.5m to improve services under the scheme, while Telford & Wrekin Council will receive around £3.2m.
What improvements to local recycling services at my council am I likely to see?
In a statement, the Government said that local authorities must use the extra funding to deliver "improved packaging waste collection services", adding that they would "reduce future allocations" if they could prove that the funding had been used for other purposes.
The Government says the scheme will encourage businesses to reduce the amount of packaging they use, shift to more recyclable materials and design new products that can be recycled and reused more easily - stopping waste from going to the nation’s landfills or incinerators.
Both Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council appeared to be caught on-the-hop by the government's announcement, with neither authority immediately able to say how the money would be spent.
However a spokesperson for Telford & Wrekin Council welcomed the allocation, which it said would provide a "funding boost" which would help keep council tax rates down.
"We are proud that almost half (49.2 per cent) of household waste in Telford and Wrekin was sent for reuse, recycling or composting in 2023/24. The borough is recycling more than the national average," they said.
"We are continually looking at ways to improve our recycling offer and therefore welcome the Government announcement of a funding boost to manage the cost of increasing recycling, so our residents continue to pay the lowest council tax in the Midlands."
Shropshire Council also welcomed the new funding, saying it would cover the costs associated with the collection and disposal of household packaging ,and "had been allocated accordingly."
Gavin Graveson, CEO of Veolia UK, which provides recycling and collection services to both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Council, welcomed the initiative.
"We welcome the Government’s progress on the crucial suite of legislation that will help raise recycling rates, decarbonise and incentivise domestic infrastructure investment," he said.
"We look forward to supporting our local authority partners to invest in the essential services they provide to collect and recycle more materials, as well as supporting brands and producers to not only design for recyclability, but also include recycled content in their products. That’s how we’ll build a world-leading, profitable and sustainable circular economy."
