To provide a relative viewpoint for this special issue's discussion on the regulatory framework for waste management in Japan, this paper provides a brief introduction to legal instruments employed in waste management in England. The basic law for waste management in England is the Environment Protection Act 1990. Similar to the situation in Japan, this law has been amended numerous times since its initial enactment and is a rather complicated piece of legislation to fully comprehend. The characteristic features of the legislation in England are the two-tier separation of Waste Collection Authority and Waste Disposal Authority, and the frequent use of economic instruments. Although the latter aims to reduce the externality caused by the former, the “predict and provide” mindset may still remain. This is not conducive to the promotion of “2Rs” (i.e. reduction and reuse), that are given a higher priority in the waste hierarchy principle.