The data covers April 2020 to March 2021. Thirteen of the 22 local authorities in Wales reported an increase in their recycling rate compared to the previous year, while 1.47 million tonnes of local authority municipal waste was generated, a 2.6% fall from the previous year and the “lowest reported figure to date”.
The recycling rate is the percentage of local authority municipal waste that was reused, recycled, or composted. Data is sourced from WasteDataFlow, which is monitored by Natural Resources Wales.
In its current waste strategy ‘Beyond Recycling’, the Welsh Government set statutory targets of recycling a minimum of 64% of waste by 2019/20 and 70% by 2024/25 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Wales’s minister for climate change, Julie James, said: “Our recycling stats are world class thanks to a Team Wales effort. They show what we can achieve when government, business and the third sector work together towards a common goal.
“They also show that while investment and partnership working have been key ingredients of this success, ultimately this achievement has been down to people recycling at home in every part of Wales.
“Our move to a circular economy is good for helping our homegrown businesses flourish, while helping us decarbonise, reduce waste and support our recovery from the pandemic.”
Covid-19
The Welsh Government said the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the collection and management of Welsh local authority municipal waste during 2020-21.
Ultimately this achievement has been down to people recycling at home in every part of Wales
– Julie James, minister for climate change
It says it is “unclear at present” how much of the impact will be long term or just temporary.
The impacts included the closure of household waste recycling centres, people spending more time at home, a change to the composition of waste, and an increase in residual waste sent for incineration.
Local authorities
The Welsh Government says household waste accounts for most of all municipal waste collected, at 89.2%.
The data shows that 18 of the 22 local authorities met the statutory target of recycling at least 64% of waste by 2019/20.
The four councils that did not meet the target were Flintshire, Torfaen, Caerphilly, and Cardiff. However, Flintshire’s recycling rate was 63.98% in 2020/21.
Cardiff and Caerphilly did not reach the target in 2019/20 either. Flintshire and Torfaen exceeded the target in 2019/20 but have now fallen below it, while Powys and Neath Port Talbot were below the target in 2019/20 but have now exceeded it.
Four of the 22 local authorities – Ceredigion, Conwy, Vale of Glamorgan, and Pembrokeshire – have already met the 2024/25 statutory target of 70%. Of these four, only Conwy was below 70% in 2019/20, although this was a “near miss” at just more than 69%.
Waste generation
The total amount of local authority municipal waste generated in Wales fell by 2.6% from 1.51 million tonnes in 2019/20 to 1.47 million tonnes in 2020/21. This is the was the lowest reported amount to date.
Between 2019/20 and 2020/21, the volume of household waste generated in Wales increased by 1.2% while the volume of non-household waste decreased by 25.8%. The Welsh Government attributes the increase in household waste to the Covid-19 restrictions put in place during 2020/21.
Residual household waste per person increased by 5.2%, rising from 173kg in 2019/20 to 182kg in 2020/21.
More than a third (35%) of all material collected for reuse, recycling, or composting in 2020/21 was organic material.
Commingled materials accounted for 18% of all waste collected of reuse, recycling, or composting. Just 7% was classified as metal or other.
Waste management
There has been a “significant decrease” in the proportion of waste disposed of via landfill in Wales between 2012/12 and 2020/21, from 42% to 4.9%.
In contrast, there has been a “substantial” increase in the proportion of waste disposed of via energy from waste (EfW), from 4.7% in 2012/13 to 28.7% in 2020/21. The percentage of waste disposed of via EfW in 2020/21 increased by 2.8 percentage points compared to the year before. The Welsh Government says the increase was caused by various local authorities send more waste to EfW due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Of all waste sent for disposal or treatment in 2020/21, 973,000 tonnes were reused, recycled, or composted.
Related link
Local authority municipal waste management: April 2020 to March 2021
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