Households and councils are recycling more waste than ever, but another 10 per cent is needed to meet EU 2020 targets
England’s households are recycling, reusing, or composting more than 40 per cent of their waste for the first time ever, government statistics have this week shown.
Figures from Defra released yesterday reveal 41.2 per cent of household waste in England was sent for recycling between April 2010 and March 2011, an increase of 1.5 per cent on the previous year.
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Households also generated just under one per cent less waste than the year before, down to 23.5 million tonnes or 449kg per person. Council waste sent to landfill also dropped 8.8 per cent.
The two most effective recycling councils were Rochford District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council, with rates of around 66 per cent and 65 per cent respectively. At the other end of the scale, Ashford Borough Council managed to recycle just 14 per cent of waste.
Just over 230 councils showed improved recycling rates, while 40 remained the same and 87 got worse.
The report also noted that while overall recycling rates had improved by 1.5 percentage points, the rate of improvement was slower than the previous year.
The EU Waste Framework Directive requires the UK to recycle, compost or reuse 50 per cent of household waste by 2020, and Lord Taylor, the waste and recycling minister, said more needed to be done to meet this mandatory target.
“Recycling is now part of our everyday lives and we’re sending less waste to landfill than ever before,” he said. “This is good news for householders, councils and the environment, but there is still much more we can all do.
“By all working together to deliver the recycling services local people want and need, we can achieve our ultimate aim of a zero-waste economy.”
The figure for next year will no doubt be the subject of great focus given the recent criticism of the government’s waste policy.
The Waste Review published earlier this year was widely derided by green groups who criticised its focus on voluntary measures for tackling waste levels.
Meanwhile, campaigners and waste management firms have warned recent government plans to reinstate councils’ weekly bin collections could have a negative impact on recycling rates by making it easier for people to throw out waste.
(Source: www.businessgreen.com )