Two-thirds of English authorities hit recycling targets (15/12/2006)

Defra have released audited figures for local authority household waste recycling in England and Wales.

The figures show that sixty-six percent (261) of local authorities have met or exceeded their Best Value targets for 2005/6.  Also fifty-three percent (210) met or exceeded the national target for recycling and composing of 25%.

The released, audited figures confirm that recycling has almost quadrupled since 1997.

The overall Government target of 25% recycling and composting of household waste for 2005-06 was easily surpassed with an 'actual' figure of 26.7%. This confirms that Government is still performing in line with its current national waste strategy.

Two-thirds of authorities also reported a decrease in collected household waste per head between 2004/5 and 2005/6, though it is too early to say whether the decrease is part of a changing trend in household waste arisings.

Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw said:

“This is a fantastic achievement by householders and local authorities. Recycling is a vital part of our battle against dangerous climate change. The emission saved by current levels of recycling is the equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off our roads. But performance is still far too patchy with some local authorities recycling more than 50% and some still down in the low teens.”

Mr Bradshaw said he would be summoning a number of local authorities to explain their poor performance as has happened previously

The 10 Authorities with highest recycling/composting rates

North Kesteven ha broken the 50% barrier with Rushcliffe only one tenth of a percent below 50%, both Authorities lying in the East Midlands Region.

The 10 Authorities with lowest recycling/composting rates

Metropolitan areas prove to be the most difficult to achieve high recycling rates with 3 lying in London and a further 3 lying in the north west sub-region of Merseyside. 

Highest recycling/composting rate in each Region