2024 Packaging Recycling Targets

15 Dec 2023

Due to the deferral of the new Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to 2025, the existing Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (as amended) will remain in force in 2024. As the 2007 Regulations only include recycling targets for obligated producers up until the end of 2023, we have now set the following recycling targets for 2024.

The 2024 targets for paper, glass, aluminium, steel and plastic will remain the same as for 2023:

• Paper 83%
• Glass 82%
• Aluminium 69%
• Steel 87%
• Plastic 61%

Points to note:

• The target for wood will increase by seven percentage points from 35% in 2023 to 42% in 2024.
• The overall recycling target will increase by three percentage points from 77% to 80%.
• The glass remelt target (a sub target of the glass target) will increase by three percentage points from 72% in 2023 to 75% in 2024.

The legislation setting these targets for England and Wales was signed by the Defra Minister on 21 November 2023 and will now be laid in Parliament for a minimum of 21 days before coming into force on 1 January 2024.

The legislation setting the same targets for Scotland and Northern Ireland will also come into force on 1 January 2024.

Link to Defra Q&A