10 international waste strategies the UK could adopt

While the UK has made progress in tackling waste, many countries are leading the way in international waste management practices through innovative legislation, advanced recycling infrastructure and ambitious circular economy policies.

Learning from these proven approaches could help the UK accelerate progress towards a more sustainable and efficient waste management.

Sources: European Environment Agency (EEA), Municipal Waste Recycling Rates (2023); Defra, UK Statistics on Waste (England household waste recycling rate, 2023 provisional).

1. Introduce mandatory waste separation

One of the biggest challenges in waste management is contamination. Another is the lack of consistency between local recycling systems.

Clear and consistent government policy on sorting and classifying waste will ensure that what we throw away can and will be recycled. For that, properly educating people and businesses is crucial.

Learning from Germany’s Dual System

Germany’s Dual System requires manufacturers and retailers to take responsibility for their recyclable and recycled packaging while demanding that citizens sort their waste into multiple categories.

They significantly boosted those all-important recycling rates by introducing stringent regulations and making waste separation a non-negotiable practice.

Following the introduction of the Dual System, Germany became internationally recognised for recycling almost 70% of its municipal waste. While recycling rates have declined slightly in recent years, the country remains one of Europe’s recycling leaders.

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2. Create a robust recycling infrastructure

For an effective recycling system, each country needs an infrastructure designed from the ground up. Again, policy and education are crucial, but knowing what to recycle and where has to be practical and straightforward for its users.

Austria’s highly developed recycling infrastructure

Austria has built one of Europe’s most effective recycling systems by investing heavily in infrastructure, public education and waste prevention.

Convenient recycling points, efficient collection services and strict landfill bans make it easy for households and businesses to recycle correctly.

These measures are supported by a strong circular economy strategy, extended producer responsibility (EPR), deposit return schemes, waste prevention initiatives, and digital tools such as the TrashApp.

Designed to maximise recycling and minimise waste, the Austrian system has helped the country become one of Europe’s top-performing recyclers.

3. Ban single-use plastics

The UK government has already banned many single-use plastic items. These items contribute significantly to land and ocean pollution, so reducing their everyday use is an important step towards cutting plastic pollution on land and at sea.

Iceland’s campaign to reduce plastic bottle waste

Instead of relying on bans or taxes, Iceland tackled plastic bottle waste by changing tourist behaviour. The Kranavatn campaign celebrated the country’s world-class tap water, encouraging visitors to refill reusable bottles and rewarding those who pledged to ditch bottled water with vouchers for participating leisure and retail businesses.

4. Implement waste reduction and recycling targets

Austria was named the world’s best recycling country in Recycling Magazine‘s 2024 rankings, while Wales secured second place. England, by comparison, ranked eleventh.

How are two countries ranked so far apart when they’re such close neighbours?

The gap highlights how ambitious targets, backed by effective policies and investment, can deliver dramatically different waste management outcomes.

Wales: Towards Zero Waste

In 2010, Wales got serious about waste and recycling, launching its Towards Zero Waste strategy. It set long-term targets for local authorities, the biggest of which carried financial penalties for missing them.

It prioritised businesses sorting waste into separate streams just as householders do, reducing general waste and food waste, and set long-term goals of zero waste to landfill by 2025 and net zero by 2050.

5. Stop exporting plastic waste

To meet global targets, many countries export their plastic waste to countries that are better equipped to recycle it. The UK exported 598,214 tonnes in 2024, 5% more than in 2023, according to ENDS Report.

While some of its recipients, like the Netherlands, are well equipped to process waste, others, like Turkey, exceed their capacity to deal with it, adding it to their own domestic waste problem. Mismanaged waste is one of the leading causes of plastic pollution in nature

Sweden’s advanced waste management system

Sweden combines high recycling rates with one of Europe’s most advanced waste-to-energy systems. In 2024, the country processed 6.6 million tonnes of waste for energy recovery, generating enough heat for more than 1.47 million apartments and electricity for over 940,000 apartments.

By recovering energy from non-recyclable waste, Sweden reduces landfill use while lowering its reliance on fossil fuels.

MORE: Food waste recycling in the UK: SunSkips’ complete guide

6. Go all-in on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

EPR puts the financial responsibility for managing products and packaging on producers. Fees, which are based on the amount of packaging a business places on the market, help fund the collection and recycling of those materials.

They also encourage manufacturers to improve product design, making items easier to collect, sort and recycle at the end of their life. Better still, they incentivise the use of sustainable materials, reusable products and less packaging overall.

France’s expanding scope into EPR

France’s EPR system is renowned for its success, with a vast range of categories that include batteries, electronics, food, furniture, textiles, tyres, chemicals, and more.

They recently added construction waste to their ever-evolving list, continuing their work into an all-encompassing circular economy.

7. Provide circular economy initiatives

A circular economy aims to keep durably designed products and their materials in circulation for as long as possible. Reusing, repairing, remanufacturing, and recycling maximise each resource’s lifespan, minimising waste.

Netherlands’ developing circular economy

The Netherlands has set some of Europe’s most ambitious circular economy goals. Through its National Circular Economy Programme the Dutch government aims to reduce its use of primary abiotic raw materials by 50% by 2030 and achieve a fully circular economy by 2050.

Rather than focusing solely on recycling, the strategy prioritises designing out waste, extending product lifespans, increasing reuse and repair, and keeping valuable materials in circulation for as long as possible.

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8. Focus on waste prevention

EPR legislation has encouraged businesses to reconsider how they create packaging and their material use. Pioneering countries have introduced better, high-tech ways of collecting reusable packaging, including reverse vending machines and reusable packaging.

Denmark combats greenhouse gases one cup at a time

While targeting waste reduction through EPR legislation and partnering on food waste and recycling with business leaders, Denmark’s work with takeaway packaging established it as a pioneer.

With over 50 partners in its Aarhus scheme, the public was encouraged to use ‘Reusable‘ takeaway cups, provided for a five-kroner deposit, and to use reverse vending machines to return them. The city has an 87% return rate, with around 2,500 cups returned each day. That’s the equivalent of approximately 750,000 cups every year.

9. Develop waste-to-energy facilities

While waste incineration plants have faced criticism surrounding greenhouse gases, the most technically advanced nations have developed systems that minimise those issues.

Sweden converts half of its waste into energy

Sweden is a leader in waste-to-energy technology, burning nearly half of its waste to produce energy. Their advanced system ensures emissions are controlled while the energy produced offsets the need for fossil fuels.

Norway also uses waste-to-energy technology to generate power, minimising landfill waste and contributing to renewable energy goals. Major plants in Oslo play a significant role in heating and powering the city, and are at the heart of their carbon capture and storage research.

RELATED: The waste journey: How SunEnviro keeps rubbish out of landfill

10. Drive domestic and commercial composting initiatives

Composting diverts organic waste from landfills, reducing the current strain on waste management systems. As a byproduct of composting, participants reduce methane emissions and improve soil health while reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers, saving money and protecting the environment.

Switzerland’s composting communities

While many Swiss residents have their own domestic composting bins, the country has also implemented eco-centres and community composting programs.

With stringent pay-as-you-throw charges, residents are incentivised to reduce waste by recycling and composting. The Swiss model demonstrates that active public engagement and well-designed policies significantly improve waste management.

Why the UK needs to look abroad for waste inspiration

According to the National Audit Office, household recycling rates in England have stalled since 2011/12. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) still lacks effective long-term plans to reduce the waste contributing to climate change.

Defra recognised that it had more to do and, in January 2023, recommitted to publishing a new programme for minimising waste and increasing resource efficiency in England.

In its report, Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, claimed, “Reducing waste is critical to reducing emissions and achieving some of Government’s wider environmental goals, but Defra does not have effective long term plans for how it will achieve its ambitions for reducing waste, and there has been delay to its implementation of reforms.

Defra must now establish a clear and coherent plan for its work on waste and resources, addressing the weaknesses in the reforms already in progress. If Defra takes these steps, it will be in a much stronger position to achieve its ambitions.”

By following the examples of better-performing countries, the UK could make more substantial inroads into its most obvious failings and deliver results to match our more successful neighbours.

Final thoughts: realistic next steps for British waste policy

Policy, regulation, education, and awareness must play their part in improving international waste management practices on a global stage.

Waste-to-energy and advanced recycling systems would help the UK manage more of its own waste instead of exporting it. Clear, consistent regulations would also make recycling simpler and more effective.

With successful examples already in place around the world, the UK has a wealth of proven strategies to learn from. By adapting these approaches to suit local needs, it has an opportunity to accelerate progress towards a more circular, resource-efficient future.

A more circular future depends on action at every level, from national policy to local businesses and communities. At SunSkips, we’re committed to helping drive that change by maximising recycling, diverting waste from landfill and investing in more sustainable waste management solutions.