This section (produced in November 2008) contains the latest household or municipal waste recycling and composting rates achieved by English local authorities and covers 2007/08. 

UK recycling rates:

England: England 2006/07 England 2005/06 England 2004/05 England 2003/04 England 2002/03

The results used audited figures produced by Defra.

See below for the top 15 councils in each local authority category (district, unitary and county). For the full set of recycling and composting results for England in 2007/08 please click this link:

• English councils in alphabetical order
• English councils in order of overall performance (total recycling and composting)
• English councils in order of recycling performance (dry recyclables)
• English councils in order of performance (composting)

Data from the government's WasteDataFlow database shows that recycling rates reached 34.5% in 2007-08 - up 3.6% from 30.9% in 2006-07 - as opposed to the 4.2% increases seen over the two previous years. (see also England reaches 34.5% recycling rate)

The letsrecycle.com top 15 (below) shows the best combined recycling and composting performances for each type of local authority in 2007/08: Districts & boroughs; Counties; Unitary and metropolitan authorities

Note: Figures for county councils and other disposal authorities include all waste collected for recycling or disposal by the WDA and their constituent waste collection authorities.

For similar top 15 tables for 2006/07, please click here: 2006/07 Districts & Boroughs; 2006/07 Counties; 2006/07 Unitary and metropolitan authorities

For similar top 15 tables for 2005/06, please click here: 2005/06 Districts & Boroughs; 2005/06 Counties; 2005/06 Unitary and metropolitan authorities

District and borough councils
Rank	Authority	Dry recycling %	Green recycling %	Total %
1	East Lindsey District Council	26.83	31.57	58.40
2	South Hams District Council	30.01	27.06	57.07
3	North Kesteven District Council	29.15	26.79	55.94
4	Teignbridge District Council	20.57	35.01	55.58
5	Huntingdonshire District Council	26.50	28.64	55.14
6	Uttlesford District Council	34.69	19.81	54.50
7	South Cambridgeshire District Council	18.70	34.51	53.21
8	Staffordshire Moorlands District Council	18.29	34.58	52.87
9	Rushcliffe Borough Council	26.89	25.48	52.38
10	South Shropshire District Council	22.13	29.92	52.06
11	Waveney District Council	26.87	24.75	51.62
12	Ryedale District Council	20.41	31.14	51.55
13	St Edmundsbury Borough Council	23.70	27.11	50.80
14	Harborough District Council	20.20	30.41	50.61
15	Lichfield District Council	25.35	24.93	50.28

County councils
Rank	Authority	Dry recycling %	Green recycling %	Total %
1	Somerset County Council	28.10	22.81	50.90
2	Lincolnshire County Council	29.33	21.22	50.55
3	Cambridgeshire County Council	22.86	27.44	50.30
4	Leicestershire County Council	22.92	25.52	48.44
5	Devon County Council	26.35	20.71	47.06
6	Suffolk County Council	25.63	20.22	45.85
7	Dorset County Council	25.79	19.50	45.29
8	Shropshire County Council	21.06	22.38	43.44
9	Staffordshire County Council	21.67	20.65	42.31
10	Northamptonshire County Council	22.72	19.55	42.27
11	Buckinghamshire County Council	25.22	16.71	41.93
12	Lancashire County Council	26.49	14.76	41.24
13	Cheshire County Council	20.94	20.10	41.04
14	Norfolk County Council	27.18	13.17	40.35
15	Oxfordshire County Council	25.15	14.99	40.13

Unitary and metropolitan councils
Rank	Authority	Dry recycling %	Green recycling %	Total %
1	Peterborough City Council	20.68	25.94	46.61
2	York City Council	25.99	17.38	43.37
3	North Lincolnshire Council	21.11	22.19	43.30
4	Bath and North East Somerset Council	27.02	15.92	42.94
5	South Gloucestershire Council	22.82	19.46	42.27
6	Bexley LB	24.03	17.62	41.64
7	Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council	24.10	17.12	41.22
8	Bournemouth Borough Council	33.36	7.65	41.01
9	Derby City Council	21.59	18.98	40.57
10	Bracknell Forest Borough Council	26.89	12.81	39.70
11	Poole Borough Council	23.34	15.76	39.10
12	Wokingham Council	22.68	14.42	37.10
13	Isle of Wight Council	14.16	22.63	36.79
14	Bristol City Council	21.71	14.57	36.27
15	Milton Keynes Council	23.44	12.25	35.69

Data taken from Defra statistics