Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper urged the Government to set a clear timetable with targets for reducing the total amount of waste produced.
The Labour member and a dozen fellow MPs accused ministers of focusing disproportionately on domestic waste, which contributes less than 10 per cent of all waste.
In an official report published this morning, they said that firm targets were not being set for commercial and industrial waste, which accounted for much more of the total.
The report said that too much textile waste – often ncheap clothes – filled our rubbish tips, and that a third ofthe food we buy was thrown away. It called for food waste to collected from homes and businesses.
Mr Lepper is a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which produced the report. Although he is standing down at the general election, which must be held by June, his seat is being targeted by the Green Party.
The committee said that waste was a valuable resource for businesses and that too little of it was “re-used, recycled, composted or used to produce energy”.
It said: “Funding cuts to services designed to help businesses manage their waste well are premature and should be re-evaluated and ways to extend such services to a wider range of organisations should be considered.
“Nearly half of all waste is still sent to landfill sites where it contributes to climate change, producing 3 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gases and 40 per cent of its methane emissions.
“This throw away tendency is exemplified by the so-called ‘Primark effect’ which has led to large increases in the amount of clothing sent to landfill sites.
“Food waste is another significant component of waste sent to landfill sites and householders, food producers and retailers need to do more to reduce the amount of food discarded unnecessarily.”
The report said that councils should to utilise public support for recycling by explaining exactly how much it costs to collect and dispose of each bagful, or wheelie bin load, of waste.
They should give people more information on what happens to materials they put out for recycling.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should bring in a more rational regime for charging for domestic waste, the report said.
It added that waste should be used for energy recovery only if it was not possible to re-use, recycle or compost it.
The Government should ensure that local authorities are using their powers fully to prevent fly-tipping and littering, the report said.
It called on the courts to recognise the seriousness of waste crime, including illegal exports of waste to other countries.
And it said that enforcement agencies should have more powers to share intelligence on criminal waste exports.
