Seven bins and Sunak’s other net zero claims

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been responding to questions after making a speech about his net zero plans on Wednesday.

We’ve been looking at some of his claims.

Were we ever going to need seven bins?

Mr Sunak has defended his suggestion that the government has ruled out households needing seven rubbish and recycling bins.

The government had previously said it wanted to standardise waste collection in England, which would mean recyclables and rubbish would have to be separated (potentially into different bins) although the plan was subsequently delayed.

Theoretically, the bins would have been for glass, paper and cardboard, metal, plastic, garden waste, food waste and general rubbish.

Bins being emptied

In a statement at the time, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it wanted to make recycling “easier” and more consistent across councils, but did not say that would necessarily mean more bins.

Speaking on Wednesday night, former Environment Secretary George Eustice said “it wasn’t government policy, no, that’s right”, when asked on Channel 4 News about the seven bins, but added the government was “assailed by representations of this sort”.

Is the UK cutting carbon the fastest?

The prime minister said: “We’ve decarbonised faster than any other economy in the G7.”

On the measure generally used for that he’s right – UK emissions almost halved between 1990 and the end of 2022, which is indeed more than the other six advanced economies in the G7.

But that figure only covers what are known as territorial emissions, so it doesn’t include emissions from making products that the UK imports.

A lot of the UK’s cuts in emissions were as a result of the closure of some heavy industry and the move away from coal. Since the international climate agreement was signed in Paris at the end of 2015, Germany has been reducing its emissions faster than the UK.

Are homes unsuitable for heat pumps?

The plan was already to phase out the installation of new natural gas boilers from 2035, which is still the policy.

The change to government policy on installing new boilers will not affect most households.

But there are some changes. The first is that there will be exemptions to that 2035 phase out for about 20% of properties where it would be most difficult to move to lower-emission alternatives such as heat pumps.

Also, in 2026 the government was proposing to start phasing out the installation of boilers powered by oil and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for properties that could not get gas. The ban has now been moved to 2035.

The government release announcing the change said: “Many of these homes are not suitable for heat pumps”

But the government-funded Electrification of Heat project said: “There is no property type or architectural era that is unsuitable for a heat pump”.

Can the UK still meet net zero targets?

Rishi Sunak told Today on BBC Radio 4 that the government had “absolute belief” that it would still hit its legally-binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

But even before this week’s policy shifts were announced, there were warnings that the UK’s future targets were at risk.

In June, the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) – which was appointed by the government to monitor progress towards net zero – called progress “worryingly slow” and called for more urgent action.

A few of the measures announced by Mr Sunak may help – for example the increase in grants to upgrade from gas boilers to heat pumps from £5,000 to £7,500.

But most amount to a pushback in policies – like the delay to the new petrol car ban or scrapping some energy efficiency measures.

The CCC’s chief executive told Today that the prime minister was guilty of “wishful thinking” if he thought net zero goals could be achieved with this “softer package” of green policies.

That’s certainly the view of the scientists the BBC has spoken to.

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