Defra has said it will give details on what will happen to council recycling targets after 2005/06 within the next few weeks.

Although councils with disposal responsibilities have been set landfill diversion targets up until 2020, there have been no statutory recycling targets set for English councils beyond this financial year (2005/06).

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is currently reviewing its waste strategy, and a spokesperson told letsrecycle.com yesterday: "There will be an announcement at the end of the month or early September, detailing the way forward for councils on recycling."

This year, councils are collectively aiming for a national target to recycle 25% of waste collected from householders. Ministers have called this target "challenging but achievable". This week saw final confirmation that the previous national target – a 17% national recycling rate – was met in 2003/04 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Following the release of this confirmation – in the form of the Municipal Waste Management Survey – pressure group Friends of the Earth called on the government to set further recycling targets "as a matter of urgency". It has suggested targets of 50% by 2010 and 75% by 2015.

Momentum

Georgina Bloomfield, recycling campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "Recycling in England has been improving, but we need to ensure that the momentum for providing better services continues.

"The government should set further statutory targets for local authorities as a matter of urgency to ensure collection services continue to improve," Ms Bloomfield added.

However, local authority recycling experts have told letsrecycle.com they believe a more likely scenario is a freezing of current recycling targets as minds concentrate on the biodegradable waste diversion requirements of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. Such a situation could also see a minimum recycling level for all councils, something in the order of a 20% recycling rate, experts suggested.