Scotland and Wales will continue preparing for mandatory flexible plastics collections from 2027, despite England delaying its equivalent requirement until 2030.
The UK Government confirmed last week that mandatory collections of plastics films and flexible packaging in England would move from 31 March 2027 to 1 April 2030 following concerns over collection, sorting and recycling capacity and the availability of suitable end markets.
However, Scotland and Wales have confirmed that they will continue with their planned approach to introducing flexible plastics collections.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We’re working with councils and industry to roll out plastics film collections in 2027, building the systems needed to process flexible plastics, keep materials in use and support green jobs.
‘Different approach’
“Decisions made by Defra for England have little impact on Wales, as we have long had a different approach to recycling policy and regulation.”
The Welsh Government has previously confirmed that local authorities will be required to collect flexible plastics from households from spring 2027 as part of its wider recycling strategy.
The Scottish Government has also said it has no plans to change its approach to flexible plastics collections.
Gillian Martin, Scotland’s secretary for climate action and rural affairs, said the government was continuing discussions with stakeholders ahead of mandatory flexible plastics collections being introduced in 2027.
‘Work closely with businesses’
“We will continue to work closely with businesses and the waste sector to introduce business flexible plastics collections from next year, and avoid any unnecessary delay to recycling policies that safeguard our resources and tackle climate change,” she said.
“The rollout of household collections on a voluntary basis is already underway in Scotland and will become mandatory as soon as the relevant legislation is in place.”
David Gudgeon, head of external affairs at Reconomy, said Wales’ decision to continue with its 2027 timetable showed confidence that the necessary systems would be in place to process flexible plastics.
“It is encouraging to see Wales sticking with its plans to introduce flexible plastics collections from 2027,” he said. “It is clearly confident that it will have the systems needed to process flexible plastics and keep materials in use by then.”
He added that England’s decision to delay collections was disappointing because the requirement had been included in guidance published in 2024.
“We won’t start seeing a truly circular economy around flexible plastics until 2030,” he said.
Local approach
Cardiff Council is also preparing to introduce a flexible plastics kerbside collection service ahead of the national requirement.
The council’s cabinet has approved plans to launch the service by summer 2026, allowing residents to recycle items including bread bags, crisp packets and other clean, dry flexible plastics packaging.
Households will receive dedicated 30-litre bags for collecting flexible plastics, which will be placed inside existing red recycling sacks for collection.
Cardiff recycled 64 per cent of its municipal waste in 2024/25 and estimates that introducing flexible plastics collections could increase its recycling rate by between 0.4 and 0.7 per cent once the service is fully established.
