The slight increase was confirmed in the UK statistics on waste, released by Defra today (23 July 2025).
This is a return to the same recycling rate as 2021 – where it also sat at 44.6% – after it dropped in 2022.
The recycling rate for Wales was 57%, Northern Ireland was 50.2%, Scotland was 42.1%, and England was provisionally put at 44.0%,
The UK produced 25,913,000 tonnes of total waste in 2023, of which 11,554,000 tonnes were recycled.
The statistics also included provisional figures for packaging waste in 2024, which showed that between 64.1% and 75.2% of UK packaging waste overall was recycled.
In 2024, the UK produced 12,727,000 tonnes of packaging waste, of which 8,154,000 tonnes was recycled.
Biodegradable waste to landfill
UK biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) sent to landfill decreased to 5.3 million tonnes in 2023 from 6.3 million tonnes in 2022.
Wales saw the biggest decrease in municipal waste to landfill at 21.7% – a decrease from 276,000 tonnes in 2022 to 216,000 tonnes in 2023.
This was followed by Scotland which saw a 20.7% decrease of 699,000 tonnes to 554,000 tonnes.
England – the largest producer of biodegradable waste to landfill – saw a decrease of 14.5% from 5,132,000 tonnes to 4,388,000 tonnes.
Finally, Northern Ireland saw a decrease of 8.8% from 204,000 tonnes to 186,000 tonnes.
The largest contributor to the biodegradable waste sent to landfill across the board was “wastes from the mechanical treatment of waste”.
Andy Rees, head of Welsh waste strategy, said that Wales is exploring how to better understand the waste stream, and how its landfilling can be reduced.
Commercial and industrial waste
Defra estimated that the UK generated 40.4 million tonnes of commercial and industrial (C&I) waste in 2020, of which 33.7 million tonnes (83%) was generated in England.
The latest estimates for England only, indicate that C&I waste generation was around 32.6 million tonnes in 2023.
In 2020, it is estimated that the UK generated 59.4 million tonnes of non-hazardous construction and demolition (C&D) waste, of which 55.0 million tonnes was recovered.
England generated 53.9 million tonnes of this waste, of which 50.3 million tonnes was recovered.
In 2022, England generated 63.0 million tonnes of non-hazardous C&D waste, of which 59.4 million tonnes was recovered.
Hi, Is it possible for a council to decrease recycling and increase its recycling rate? Do residents recycle less if their bins are tagged? Does that mean less recycling but better quality and a better recycling rate?