Waste, resources and the circular economy

Three per cent of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from waste. Approximately 89 per cent of these emissions come from landfill sites where biodegradable wastes decompose to produce methane and carbon dioxide gas.

In 2020/21 households in Rugby produced an average 870kg of household waste, of which 479kg was ‘residual waste’ which is disposed of to landfill or incineration. The remaining 45 per cent of the Borough’s household waste was either recycled, reused, or composted.

Our priority must be to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill in the first place, moving from a throwaway culture and towards a circular economy where we eliminate waste, re-use resources, and adopt nature positive, low carbon, resource-efficient systems.

We must reconsider our use of natural resources, focusing on sustainable consumption, production and materials management. The circular model redefines the economy around principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible

Our 2030 Goals:

  • The Borough will benefit from a resources and waste economy, which is focused on elimination of waste, re-use of goods, recycling of materials and recovery of energy.

  • The Borough will benefit from a significantly reduced amount of residual waste going to landfill.

  • The Borough will benefit from a waste management regime which generates reduced or zero carbon.

  • We will lead by example by reducing the Council’s own waste output year on year.