Recycling costs vary sharply by packaging material and by what happens after collection. In the UK local-authority model for the 2025–2026 business year, using packaging tonnage data for the full 2024 period as of 9 June 2025, modelled recyclate collection costs range from £34,000 for the other packaging category to £305.175 million for plastic. These are local-authority packaging-cost estimates, not household bills or universal prices for individual items.
Contents
- How to read these recycling cost statistics
- Collection costs by packaging material
- Handling and sorting costs
- Recyclate sale income and cost offsets
- Residual-waste collection costs
- Treatment and disposal costs
- Landfill, incineration and other route benchmarks
How to read these recycling cost statistics
The figures come from the UK government publication Local authority payments and material base fees: breakdown of costs and tonnages. The model covers England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales for the 2025–2026 business year. Its underlying packaging data covers the full 2024 period and was current as of 9 June 2025.
Several limitations matter when comparing the numbers. Costs and tonnages are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and 1,000 tonnes. Values below 500 tonnes or £500 are shown as <500 in the source. Total recyclate collection includes kerbside dry recycling, bring sites and household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). Residual collection includes kerbside residual waste and HWRCs.
Handling and sorting totals include Materials Facility Regulations costs. Residual treatment and disposal totals exclude disposal overheads. The model therefore describes a national packaging-cost framework rather than the amount an individual household pays, the price of a single collection, or a guaranteed market price for a bale of material.
Collection costs by packaging material
The largest modelled recyclate collection cost is associated with plastic packaging at £305,175,000. Paper and card follows at £229,423,000, while glass accounts for £104,771,000. These totals describe the cost of collecting material that enters the recyclate system, not the later cost of sorting or treating residual waste.
| Packaging material | Modelled recyclate collection cost |
|---|---|
| Plastic | £305,175,000 |
| Paper and card | £229,423,000 |
| Glass | £104,771,000 |
| Steel | £43,314,000 |
| Fibre-based composite | £36,667,000 |
| Aluminium | £12,214,000 |
| Wood | £2,487,000 |
| Other packaging | £34,000 |
Steel collection is modelled at £43,314,000, and fibre-based composite packaging at £36,667,000. Aluminium is lower at £12,214,000, while wood is £2,487,000. The other packaging category is shown at £34,000, a reminder that a small modelled category should not be compared with a major material without considering tonnage and category definition.
These are modelled total costs for the UK local-authority system. They do not establish that plastic collection costs £305,175,000 in every year, or that every council faces the same local cost. The period, geography and modelling basis are essential parts of each figure.
Handling and sorting costs
Once recyclate has been collected, handling and sorting add another layer of cost. Glass has the highest modelled handling and sorting total at £157,711,000, despite having a lower collection total than plastic. Paper and card is next at £79,280,000, followed by plastic at £41,233,000.
| Packaging material | Handling and sorting cost, including Materials Facility Regulations costs |
|---|---|
| Glass | £157,711,000 |
| Paper and card | £79,280,000 |
| Plastic | £41,233,000 |
| Steel | £21,433,000 |
| Fibre-based composite | £7,390,000 |
| Aluminium | £1,463,000 |
| Wood | £2,045,000 |
| Other packaging | £54,000 |
The modelled glass handling and sorting figure is £157,711,000. Paper and card is £79,280,000, plastic £41,233,000 and steel £21,433,000. Fibre-based composite packaging is £7,390,000, aluminium £1,463,000, wood £2,045,000 and the other packaging category £54,000.
These figures should not be read as a processing fee charged directly to a resident. They represent modelled UK local-authority packaging costs, and the source specifically includes Materials Facility Regulations costs in this part of the calculation. The handling and sorting totals also should not be substituted for collection costs: the two stages measure different parts of the recycling system.
Recyclate sale income and cost offsets
The sale of recovered material can produce income, but the model shows that the result differs by material. Plastic has modelled recyclate-sale income of £117,409,000, paper and card £51,557,000, steel £30,363,000 and aluminium £18,021,000.
Fibre-based composite packaging has £1,952,000 in modelled sale income. Glass has negative modelled income of £22,581,000, wood has negative £1,705,000 and the other packaging category has negative £74,000. A negative value here means a negative modelled income figure, not a positive revenue payment.
| Packaging material | Modelled recyclate-sale income |
|---|---|
| Plastic | £117,409,000 |
| Paper and card | £51,557,000 |
| Steel | £30,363,000 |
| Aluminium | £18,021,000 |
| Fibre-based composite | £1,952,000 |
| Wood | -£1,705,000 |
| Glass | -£22,581,000 |
| Other packaging | -£74,000 |
Sale income can therefore offset some modelled system costs for some materials, but it is not uniformly positive. The glass figure is particularly important when interpreting claims that recycling automatically creates sale revenue. In this model and period, glass is assigned a negative figure. The same caution applies to wood and the other packaging category.
Residual-waste collection costs
Packaging that is not captured as recyclate can still create collection costs through residual waste. Plastic has the highest modelled residual-waste collection allocation at £124,350,000. Glass is allocated £39,166,000, paper and card £32,308,000 and steel £12,729,000.
The remaining material allocations are £6,667,000 for aluminium, £5,002,000 for fibre-based composite packaging, £1,544,000 for the other packaging category and £575,000 for wood. These figures cover kerbside residual waste and HWRCs under the model’s definition.
| Packaging material | Modelled residual-waste collection cost |
|---|---|
| Plastic | £124,350,000 |
| Glass | £39,166,000 |
| Paper and card | £32,308,000 |
| Steel | £12,729,000 |
| Aluminium | £6,667,000 |
| Fibre-based composite | £5,002,000 |
| Other packaging | £1,544,000 |
| Wood | £575,000 |
Residual-waste collection is a separate cost pathway from recyclate collection. A material can appear in both systems because the model allocates packaging across recycling and residual-waste activity. These numbers should therefore be used to understand system costs, not to infer that every item of a given material is either recycled or discarded.
Treatment and disposal costs
After residual waste is collected, treatment and disposal add further modelled costs. Plastic has the highest total at £187,508,000. Glass is £56,709,000, paper and card £50,062,000, and steel £18,784,000.
| Packaging material | Modelled residual treatment and disposal cost |
|---|---|
| Plastic | £187,508,000 |
| Glass | £56,709,000 |
| Paper and card | £50,062,000 |
| Steel | £18,784,000 |
| Fibre-based composite | £7,582,000 |
| Aluminium | £10,291,000 |
| Wood | £899,000 |
| Other packaging | £1,730,000 |
The fibre-based composite total is £7,582,000. Aluminium is £10,291,000, the other packaging category £1,730,000 and wood £899,000. The source notes that residual treatment and disposal totals exclude disposal overheads. They are therefore not complete all-in costs for every disposal operation.
Comparisons between collection and treatment figures also need care. Collection describes getting material to or through the relevant system, whereas treatment and disposal describe residual material after collection. The two categories answer different questions about where recycling costs arise.
Landfill, incineration and other route benchmarks
The modelled cost benchmarks differ by disposal route and UK nation. Landfill is £142 per tonne in England, £157 in Scotland, £135 in Northern Ireland and £139 in Wales. Incineration is £121 per tonne in England, £156 in Scotland, £123 in Northern Ireland and £123 in Wales.
Residual MRF, MBT, RDF and thermal-treatment routes are modelled at £161 per tonne in each UK nation. The benchmark for other disposal methods matches the landfill figures: £142 per tonne in England, £157 in Scotland, £135 in Northern Ireland and £139 in Wales.
| Disposal route | England | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landfill | £142/t | £157/t | £135/t | £139/t |
| Incineration | £121/t | £156/t | £123/t | £123/t |
| Residual MRF, MBT, RDF and thermal treatment | £161/t | £161/t | £161/t | £161/t |
| Other disposal methods | £142/t | £157/t | £135/t | £139/t |
The route benchmarks are not household tariffs. They are modelled cost rates for the stated business year, and the same £161-per-tonne rate is used across the four nations for the grouped residual MRF, MBT, RDF and thermal-treatment routes.
The source also gives material-specific landfill examples. Landfill cost for plastic packaging is £27,501,000 for 190,000 tonnes. Glass is £9,418,000 for 65,000 tonnes, paper and card £7,850,000 for 54,000 tonnes, and steel £2,851,000 for 20,000 tonnes. Aluminium is £1,610,000 for 11,000 tonnes, fibre-based composite packaging £1,084,000 for 8,000 tonnes, the other packaging category £210,000 for 1,000 tonnes and wood £111,000 for 1,000 tonnes.
These material-specific landfill figures retain the source’s rounded tonnage and cost presentation. They should be treated as modelled examples for the 2025–2026 business year, not as a universal price per tonne for every facility or contract.