Councils could be forced to recycle 70% of local waste by 2030 under new proposals put forward by the European Commission.
Plans would enforce recycling of at least 80% of packaging waste by the end of the next decade and place a ban on burying recyclable waste in landfill from 2025.
The announcement marks a step change from Brussels as leaders attempt to strengthen waste targets in existing EU directives and move towards a 'more circular economy'. However waste management professionals said the new targets would pose a 'challenge' for the UK.
Current goals require half of all municipal waste to be being recycled by 2020. Yet latest figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show only 73 of England's 352 local authorities were reaching this target in 2012/13, with some recycling as little as 12%.
The EC's environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik, said achieving new waste goals would create and estimate 580,000 new jobs across the Continent while supporting continued re-use of materials.
'The 2030 targets that we propose are about taking action today to accelerate the transition to a circular economy and exploiting the business and job opportunities it offers,' he said.
'If we want to compete we have to get the most out of our resources, and that means recycling them back into productive use, not burying them in landfills as waste. Moving to a circular economy is not only possible, it is profitable, but that does not mean it will happen without the right policies.'
The UK Government issued warnings about the plan, indicating new targets could increase financial pressures on town halls.
A Defra spokesperson said: 'We think the Commission's proposals may have underplayed the potential costs to business, householders and local authorities and will want to consider the impacts fully before we respond.
'While we support efforts to reduce waste we need to ensure that any new legislation would meet our priorities to protect the environment, incentivise growth and avoid unnecessary burdens.'
Steve Lee, chief executive of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, said: 'The current 50% municipal waste recycling target by 2020 could already be hard for England to hit.'
'The same goes for the 70% recycling target by 2030 proposed today, but even more so. Alongside this challenge, the package also has clear and strong messages about cutting waste to landfill, tougher recycling targets for packaging, and the development of national plans to reduce food waste by 30% by 2025. None of us should pretend these will be easy to meet.'
