Sheffield City Council leaders will vote next week whether to end the authority’s waste contract with Veolia 19 years early.

Greater producer responsibility, more consistent recycling systems and the revisitation of pay as you throw should all be considered to make English recycling more efficient, says the Green Alliance.

Surrey County Council has taken the first steps towards creating a county-wide waste collection and disposal service, which it says could save taxpayers up to £12 million a year.

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector including a skip firm’s lost licence, a jail warning for a ‘shameless’ Croydon fly-tipper and the Great British Spring Clean.

A new study by packaging trade association INCPEN backs behaviour change campaigns instead of bag and bottle charges to reduce littering levels.

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector including new Leave You Cap On campaigns, an appointment at Amey and an opening for London’s Sustainable Development Commission.

Somerset councils have voted to expand their recycling collection and move to a three-weekly waste collection scheme in 2017.

Members of the waste industry are calling for greater producer responsibility and signs of a clear direction for recycling policy in England, after the UK’s recycling rate fell for the first time.

The UK household recycling rate fell to 44.3 per cent in 2015, the first time the rate has officially dropped since Defra began publishing the statistic in 2010.

Local authorities across the country have stepped up action against fly-tippers in the build-up to Christmas, as they make use of new powers to issue on-the-spot fines and crush vehicles used in fly-tipping operations.