This section (produced in December 2006) contains the latest household or municipal waste recycling and composting rates achieved by English local authorities and covers 2005/06. 

UK recycling rates:

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

The results use audited figures provided 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 2005/06 please click this link:

• English councils in order of performance
• English councils in alphabetical order 

For England as a whole, 26.7% of household waste was recycled in 2005/6 – exceeding the government’s target of 25%. No targets have been set for 2006/07, while targets for 2007/08 remain the same as 2005/06, but with the lowest council targets rising to 20%.

The letsrecycle.com top 15 (below) shows the best combined recycling and composting performances for each type of local authority in 2005/06: Districts & boroughs; Counties; Unitary and metropolitan authorities

District and Borough councils
Rank	Local authority	Recycling rate (%)	Composting rate (%)	Total	2005/06 target
1	North Kesteven	28.72	22.8	51.5	18
2	Rushcliffe	24.6	25.3	49.9	18
3	South Cambridgeshire	18.1	31.3	49.4	24
4	St Edmundsbury	21.52	27.1	48.6	30
5	Huntingdonshire	25	23	48	21
6	Melton Mowbray	23.03	24.04	47.1	30
7	Waveney	25.84	20.75	46.6	18
8	Forest Heath	22.34	23.77	46.1	30
9	Lichfield	22.45	22.93	45.4	30
10	Teignbridge	19.58	25.81	45.4	30
11	Daventry	15.62	29.01	44.6	30
12	Harborough	18.6	25.73	44.3	18
13	Broadland	30.96	12.48	43.4	27
14	Cherwell	22.37	20.92	43.3	18
15	Ryedale	18.24	24.53	42.8	30

Unitary and Metropolitan councils
Rank	Local authority	Recycling rate (%)	Composting rate (%)	Total	2005/06 target
1	Isle of Wight	15.08	23.71	38.8	30
2	Bexley	21.5	16.21	37.7	30
3	South Gloucestershire	19.21	18.19	37.4	21
4	Bath & N.E Somerset	23.64	13.33	37	30
5	Redcar and Cleveland	18.07	17.67	35.7	18
6	Peterborough	17.15	18.49	35.6	30
7	Milton Keynes	19.85	11.72	31.6	30
8	Stockport	15	16.56	31.6	30
9	Telford and Wrekin	17.6	12.9	30.5	18
10	Sutton	20.21	8.86	29.1	30
11	Windsor & Maidenhead	21.48	7.5	29	30
12	Richmond	21.06	7.53	28.6	30
13	Poole	21.58	6.83	28.4	30
14	Bracknell Forest	18.69	9.27	28	27
15	Hillingdon	16.3	11.4	27.7	21

County councils
Rank	Local authority	Recycling rate (%)	Composting rate (%)	Total	2005/06 target
1	Cambridgeshire	21.61	21.87	43.5	30
2	Suffolk	22.61	18.11	40.7	30
3	Devon	23.89	16.7	40.6	30
4	Leicestershire	19.53	21.07	40.6	30
5	Somerset	24.15	16.29	40.4	30
6	Dorset	23.49	14.87	38.4	30
7	Nottinghamshire	25.27	12.1	37.4	24
8	Buckinghamshire	21.4	14.1	35.5	30
9	Lancashire	21.43	13.72	35.2	30
10	Norfolk	23.75	11.07	34.8	30
11	Shropshire	16.11	18.69	34.8	21
12	Northamptonshire	18.5	16.09	34.6	27
13	Lincolnshire	18.6	15.3	33.9	30
14	Staffordshire	17.06	16.62	33.7	27
15	Oxfordshire	21.65	11.71	33.4	30

Data taken from Defra statistics