This section (produced in December 2005) contains the latest municipal waste recycling and composting rates achieved by English local authorities and covers 2004/05. 

The results use figures collated by the Audit Commission and these are to be officially released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in January 2006. The figures may be subject to further review. 

UK recycling rates:

England: England 2007/08 England 2006/07 England 2005/06 England 2004/05 England 2003/04 England 2002/03

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 2004/05 please click this link:

• English councils in order of performance 

The 2004/05 results suggest that England will have reached the 23% level for recycling. This means that the target of 2005/06 of 25% overall looks likely to be met. No targets have been set for 2006/07.

The letsrecycle.com top 15 (below) shows the best combined recycling and composting performances for each type of local authority in 2004/05:

District and Borough councils
Rank			Recycling	Composting	Total (%)
1	D	St Edmundsbury	27.13	27.51	50.64
2	D	Forest Heath	24.58	24.01	48.59
3	D	South Cambridgeshire	17.80	29.00	46.80
4	D	Lichfield	21.35	25.00	46.35
5	D	Harborough	18.73	27.27	46.00
6	D	Rushcliffe	21.00	25.00	46.00
7	D	Daventry	14.90	30.15	45.05
8	D	Tamworth	30.70	14.10	44.80
9	D	Cherwell	22.30	21.10	43.40
10	D	Vale Royal	18.30	21.70	40.00
11	D	North Kesteven	25.30	14.13	39.43
12	D	Broadland	38.29	0.00	38.29
13	D	Melton Mowbray	21.33	15.43	36..76
14	D	Horsham	14.00	20.89	34.89
15	D	Babergh	30.50	04.24	34.74

Unitary and Metropolitan councils
Rank			Recycling	Composting	Total (%)
1	UA	Isle of Wight	16.84	18.66	35.50
2	UA	South Gloucestershire	17.29	15.20	32.49
3	UA	Bath and North East Somerset	20.13	11.54	31.67
4	MD	Stockport	14.60	16.25	30.85
5	LB	Bexley	18.55	11.92	30.47
6	LB	Sutton	19.29	08.57	27.86
7	UA	Medway	16.04	11.24	27.28
8	LB	Hillingdon	14.90	12.30	27.20
9	UA	Wokingham	19.25	07.62	26.87
10	UA	Peterborough	15.35	11.44	26.79
11	UA	Milton Keynes	18.10	08.40	26.50
12	LB	Camden	21.18	04.03	25.21
13	UA	Windsor and Maidenhead	17.81	07.13	24.94
14	UA	North Lincolnshire	14.42	09.67	24.09
15	UA	Bracknell Forest	15.99	08.05	24.04

County councils
Rank			Recycling	Composting	Total (%)
1	C	Cambridgeshire	19.47	18.29	37.76
2	C	Suffolk	20.70	16.50	37.20
3	C	Dorset	21.82	12.56	34.38
4	C	Leicestershire	16.82	17.38	34.20
5	C	Devon	21.24	11.46	32.70
6	C	Nottinghamshire	20.20	11.50	31.70
7	C	Somerset	21.00	10.60	31.60
8	C	Lancashire	19.87	11.02	30.89
9	C	Norfolk	21.62	09.13	30.75
10	C	Hampshire	21.13	10.10	31.23
11	C	Oxfordshire	20.26	09.88	30.14
12	C	Essex	18.48	11.31	29.79
13	C	Buckinghamshire	19.69	09.70	29.39
14	C	Shropshire	12.89	15.77	28.66
15	C	Northamptonshire	15.48	13.12	28.60