At Keep Britain Tidy, our ambition is to inspire people, businesses, schools and communities to waste far less.
Reducing waste, reusing materials as much as possible and managing materials at the end of their 'life' is key to protecting our environment for now and for the future.
The way we think about and treat waste is important for material security, energy use, climate change and environmental protection.
What are we wasting?
Every year, reports suggest that more than half (58%) of the plastic packaging generated by households is burned and only 17% is recycled.
We throw away around 711,000 tonnes of textiles, including wearable clothing, in our general waste bin at home or in the general waste containers at a household waste recycling centre - that's a whopping 35 items per person that are either incinerated with energy recovery or buried in landfill, according to WRAP.
Food for thought
In the UK in 2021 we wasted about 10.7 million tonnes of food, 60% of which came from households, compared to two per cent from retail and ten per cent from the hospitality and food services sector.
The value of the edible part of that food waste in 2021 was an estimated £17 billion, or £250 per person each year.
Food waste contributes to both climate change and environmental destruction in two ways. Firstly through the release of greenhouse gases when it breaks down in landfill or is burned in waste-energy facilities and, secondly, through the waste of energy and resources that are used to produce and transport all the food that is thrown away.
Tackling waste
Fly-tipping
Fly-tipping has reached epidemic proportions in this country. The latest figures for fly-tipping on public land, as published by the government, showed there were more than 1.15 million incidents in 2023/24.
Buy Nothing New Month
Every new item we buy comes with an environmental price tag. Could you buy nothing new for just one month?
Recycling
The concept of recycling isn’t new, in fact, the idea of the conservation of materials has been around for centuries. Today each and everyone of us can do our bit at home thanks to kerbside recycling. But, despite the ease with which we can recycle, recycling rates have flatlined in recent years.
Ocean Recovery Project
The Ocean Recovery Project aims to empower beach cleaners, increase recycling rates and develop new techniques for recycling ‘hard to recycle’ plastics, including fishing nets
Tackling plastic pollution
Since Sir David Attenborough highlighted the issue of marine plastic in Blue Planet II in 2017, more and more people have become concerned about the volume of plastic in our rivers and seas and its impact on marine life.
Introducing the deposit return scheme
Due to start in late 2027, the deposit return scheme will increase the recycling of plastic bottles and aluminium cans, reduce waste and cut littering.
Support our campaigns
Our campaigns need your support, whether it's signing up to a waste challenge, taking part in an litter-picking event or even organising your own, your efforts help us make a big difference every day, all across the country.