Exclusive: government accused of hypocrisy as documents show opposition to urban waste plan

A target to recycle 65% of urban waste by 2035 was agreed by the European council and parliament in December and now awaits a vote of approval by member states. But the UK’s opposition is revealed in a record of a subsequent briefing for EU ambassadors, obtained by Greenpeace’s Unearthed team and seen by the Guardian.

The UK government is opposing strong new recycling targets across the EU despite its recent pledge to develop “ambitious new future targets and milestones”, confidential documents have revealed.

A 25-year environment plan was launched earlier in January by the prime minister, Theresa May, who particularly focused on cutting plastic pollution. The plan, aimed partly at wooing younger voters, says “recycling plastics is critical”.

Europe introduces new measures to tackle plastic waste

As a part of the transition towards a more circular economy, the European Commission has adopted the first-ever Europe-wide strategy on plastics.

Under the new Plastic Strategy, all plastic packaging on the EU market will be recyclable by 2030, the consumption of single-use plastics will be reduced and the intentional use of microplastics will be restricted. Europeans generate 25 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, but less than 30% is collected for recycling. Across the world, plastics make up 85% of beach litter, while microplastics in air, water and food are having an unknown impact on human health.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development, said:

“If we don’t change the way we produce and use plastics, there will be more plastics than fish in our oceans by 2050. We must stop plastics getting into our water, our food, and even our bodies. The only long-term solution is to reduce plastic waste by recycling and reusing more. This is a challenge that citizens, industry and governments must tackle together. With the EU Plastics Strategy we are also driving a new and more circular business model. We need to invest in innovative new technologies that keep our citizens and our environment safe whilst keeping our industry competitive.” Click here to download plastics strategy