Simpler Recycling: What the UK's Collection Reform Means for Producers

For years, the patchwork nature of kerbside recycling across the UK has been one of the biggest barriers to packaging recyclability. A plastic pot collected at the kerb in one council area might go straight to landfill in the neighbouring authority. A household in Bristol might have weekly food waste collection while a household thirty miles away in rural Somerset has none at all. This inconsistency has made it nearly impossible for packaging producers to design for recyclability with any confidence about what actually gets collected and processed at scale.

That is now changing. The UK Government's Simpler Recycling policy, formally known as consistent collection reform, mandates that all local authorities in England must collect a defined set of recyclable materials from the kerbside by 31 March 2026. This is not a voluntary target. It is a legal requirement under the Environment Act 2021, backed by statutory guidance and, for the first time, funded through the EPR scheme that producers are already paying into.

For obligated producers, this reform has implications that go well beyond waste management policy. It directly affects the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM), which determines the rating applied to each packaging component. And because RAM ratings now feed into fee modulation from 2026-2027 onwards, changes to collection coverage can shift your packaging from Red or Amber to Green, with a corresponding reduction in the fees you pay.

This article explains what the collection reform requires, which materials are affected, how the timeline works, and what the practical impact is for producers making packaging decisions right now.

What Is Simpler Recycling?

Simpler Recycling is the Government's programme to standardise what materials are collected for recycling at the kerbside across England. The core principle is straightforward: if a material is widely recyclable in theory, it should be consistently collected in practice. Householders should not have to check their local council's website to find out whether a plastic tray or a drinks carton can go in the recycling bin. The answer should be the same everywhere.

The policy has three main pillars:

1. A mandatory core set of dry recyclable materials that every local authority must collect from the kerbside, including from flats and multi-occupancy buildings.
2. Mandatory separate food waste collection for all households, at least weekly, to divert organic waste from residual bins and reduce contamination of dry recyclables.
3. Consistent collection for businesses and non-domestic premises, ensuring that workplaces, schools, and commercial properties also have access to recycling services for core materials.

The reform is funded primarily through EPR payments. The fees that producers pay under the reformed scheme are ringfenced to cover the costs that local authorities incur in collecting and managing household packaging waste. In effect, producers are paying for the collection infrastructure that determines whether their packaging is recyclable in practice, not just in theory.

Which Materials Must Be Collected?

The statutory guidance specifies a core set of materials that every local authority in England must collect from the kerbside by 31 March 2026. These are:

The most significant entries in this table are plastic pots, tubs, and trays, plastic films and flexibles, and drinks cartons. These are the material streams where collection coverage is currently lowest and where the reform will drive the largest change in the recycling landscape.

The plastic film milestone

Plastic films and flexibles deserve special attention. Currently, fewer than 5% of local authorities collect flexible plastic at the kerbside. The vast majority of household flexible packaging, including bread bags, cereal liners, frozen food bags, and carrier bags, goes directly into the residual waste bin and ends up in energy-from-waste or landfill.

Under Simpler Recycling, local authorities have until 31 March 2027 to introduce kerbside collection of plastic films (one year later than the core dry recyclables deadline). This phased approach reflects the infrastructure challenges: collecting flexible plastics requires different vehicles, sorting processes, and reprocessing facilities than rigid plastics. But the trajectory is clear. By April 2027, flexible plastic packaging will be collected at the kerbside across England for the first time.

How Collection Reform Affects RAM Ratings

The connection between collection infrastructure and RAM ratings is direct. Stage 2 of the five-stage RAM assessment asks: Is this material collected for recycling from the kerbside or at a bring site by a sufficient proportion of UK local authorities?

If the answer is no, the material fails at Stage 2 and receives a Red rating. It does not matter if the material is technically easy to sort, reprocess, and sell into end markets. Without collection, there is no recycling pathway, and the RAM reflects this reality.

Simpler Recycling changes the answer for several important packaging formats. Here is how specific material streams are likely to be affected:

Plastic pots, tubs, and trays

Currently at approximately 67% kerbside collection coverage, plastic pots, tubs, and trays occupy a borderline position in the RAM. Some formats made from commonly collected polymers (clear PET, PP) may already achieve Amber or Green ratings in areas with strong collection, but the national picture is inconsistent.

Once collection reaches close to 100% of local authorities by March 2026, the Collection stage of the RAM becomes much more straightforward to pass for standard rigid plastic formats. Producers using clear PET pots, natural PP tubs, or HDPE containers can expect to see improved RAM outcomes, assuming the packaging also passes Sortation, Reprocessing, and Application stages.

Drinks cartons and fibre composites

Cartons have historically struggled with RAM assessments because collection coverage has been patchy (around 40% of authorities). The inclusion of cartons in the mandatory core set brings coverage to near-universal levels. Combined with the growing UK reprocessing capacity for fibre composites, cartons that previously received Red or Amber ratings may shift toward Amber or Green.

This is significant for the food and beverage sector, where carton packaging is widely used for juice, milk, plant-based drinks, soups, and sauces.

Plastic films and flexibles (from 2027)

This is the biggest single shift. Flexible plastic packaging currently fails the Collection stage almost universally, which means virtually all household flexible packaging receives a Red RAM rating regardless of polymer type. This has significant fee implications under modulation, because flexible packaging represents a large proportion of household packaging tonnage for many food producers.

When kerbside collection of flexibles reaches critical mass in 2027, the door opens for mono-material PE films (the most common flexible format) to potentially achieve Amber or even Green ratings. Multi-layer and multi-material flexibles will still face challenges at the Sortation and Reprocessing stages, but the blanket Red rating driven by non-collection will no longer apply to the category as a whole.

The Food Waste Collection Requirement

Alongside dry recyclables, Simpler Recycling mandates that all local authorities must provide separate weekly food waste collection to all households by March 2026. Currently, only around half of English local authorities offer this service.

While food waste collection does not directly affect the RAM rating of packaging materials, it has an important indirect effect: reduced contamination of dry recycling streams. Food contamination is one of the leading causes of recyclable packaging being rejected at MRFs and sent for disposal instead of recycling. When food waste has a dedicated bin, less of it ends up in the dry recycling stream, which means better quality recyclate and higher effective recycling rates.

For producers, this means that the real-world recycling outcomes for your packaging improve even without any changes to the packaging itself. Cleaner input streams at MRFs lead to fewer rejections, higher throughput, and better end-market prices for recycled material. Over time, this improved performance may be reflected in updated RAM assessments and lower base fee rates.

What Local Authorities Must Do

The obligations on local authorities under Simpler Recycling are substantial. For many councils, particularly those in rural areas or with older collection infrastructure, meeting the March 2026 deadline requires significant operational change:

• Procure new collection vehicles capable of handling additional material streams, including split-bodied trucks for multi-stream collection.
• Distribute new containers to households, including separate caddies for food waste and potentially additional boxes or bags for materials not previously collected.
• Renegotiate waste management contracts with private sector collection operators to include new material streams.
• Secure MRF capacity that can sort the expanded range of materials, particularly plastic films which require specialist equipment.
• Communicate changes to residents through campaigns that explain what goes in each bin, collection day changes, and why the system is changing.

The costs of these changes are substantial, which is why the EPR scheme's payments to local authorities are so important. Producers are, in effect, funding the infrastructure build-out that makes their packaging recyclable. This creates a virtuous cycle: EPR fees fund collection, collection enables recycling, and demonstrated recycling improves RAM ratings, which in turn reduces the producer's modulated fees.

The Timeline at a Glance

Here is how the key dates interact:

The timing is deliberate. Collection reform is designed to precede fee modulation escalation, giving producers a pathway to improve their ratings before the financial penalties for Red packaging reach their peak. Producers who understand this sequence can plan their packaging transitions to align with the infrastructure rollout.

How Producers Benefit from Improved Collection Coverage

The benefits of Simpler Recycling for obligated producers extend beyond RAM rating improvements. Here are the practical advantages:

Lower EPR fees through better RAM ratings

This is the most direct benefit. As collection coverage expands and your packaging components pass the Collection stage of the RAM, their ratings improve. Under fee modulation, a shift from Red to Green can halve your fee for that component by the time the 2.0x multiplier is in effect. Across a portfolio of hundreds of components and thousands of tonnes, the cumulative saving is material.

Simplified packaging design decisions

When collection is inconsistent, producers face a difficult design challenge: should you optimise packaging for the best-performing local authorities (where it will be collected) or for the worst (where it will not)? Universal collection removes this ambiguity. You can design for recyclability knowing that the collection infrastructure will exist to support it nationwide.

Stronger sustainability claims

Consumers and retailers are sceptical of "recyclable" claims on packaging that is only collected by a fraction of local authorities. When collection is universal, the claim becomes credible. Your marketing team can state that the packaging is "widely recycled across the UK" with confidence, supported by the infrastructure data to prove it.

Reduced reputational risk

Packaging that is technically recyclable but practically not collected has been a persistent source of negative media coverage and NGO criticism. Simpler Recycling closes this gap for most mainstream packaging formats, reducing the risk of your brand being named in investigations about misleading recyclability labelling.

Monitoring Opportunities: Staying Ahead of the Data

For producers who want to maximise the benefit of collection reform, proactive monitoring is essential. The collection landscape will change materially over the next twelve months as local authorities roll out new services, and the RAM implications will follow.

Track local authority rollout progress

DEFRA publishes data on local authority collection services through WasteDataFlow and the annual local authority survey. Monitoring which authorities have added new material streams to their kerbside collection tells you when the Collection stage of the RAM is likely to be updated for specific materials.

Watch for RAM methodology updates

DEFRA has indicated that the RAM will be periodically reviewed to reflect changes in collection infrastructure, sortation technology, and reprocessing capacity. The v1.1 update to the RAM already incorporated some infrastructure changes. Future updates triggered by Simpler Recycling rollout could shift the ratings for additional material formats.

Model scenarios before they happen

You do not need to wait for official RAM updates to start planning. If you know that a material currently fails at Collection but will be universally collected by March 2026, you can model the impact of a potential rating improvement now. This forward-looking analysis helps you make packaging investment decisions with confidence rather than reacting after the fact.

What This Means for Your Packaging Strategy

Simpler Recycling is the infrastructure piece that makes the RAM and fee modulation system work as intended. Without consistent collection, the RAM would penalise producers for infrastructure failures outside their control. With consistent collection, the RAM becomes a genuine measure of packaging design quality, and fee modulation becomes a meaningful incentive to improve it.

For producers, the strategic implications are clear:

• Stop designing for the lowest common denominator. With universal collection of core materials, you can confidently use formats like PP pots, clear PET trays, and aluminium foil knowing they will be collected everywhere.
• Prepare for the flexible packaging shift. The 2027 deadline for plastic film collection creates a window of opportunity. Producers who convert multi-layer flexibles to mono-material PE now will be positioned to benefit from improved RAM ratings as soon as collection infrastructure catches up.
• Use the timeline to build business cases. The cost savings from improved RAM ratings under fee modulation are quantifiable. Use the Simpler Recycling timeline to show decision-makers exactly when each packaging change starts generating returns.
• Engage with DEFRA consultations. As the RAM is updated to reflect new collection realities, there will be consultation opportunities. Producers who participate can influence how quickly the methodology catches up with on-the-ground infrastructure changes.

The era of inconsistent recycling is ending. For producers who are ready to align their packaging design with the new collection reality, the reward is lower fees, stronger sustainability credentials, and a simpler compliance experience. For those who continue to rely on packaging formats that cannot be recycled even with universal collection, the costs will only increase.