However, in terms of individual targets, the figures were more positive with 261 (66%) of local authorities meeting or exceeding their individual targets for 2005/06.
| Rank | Council | Region |
Recycling Rate (%) |
1 |
North Kesteven |
E Midlands |
51.5 |
2 |
Rushcliffe |
E Midlands |
49.9 |
3 |
South Cambridgeshire |
Eastern |
49.4 |
4 |
St Edmundsbury |
Eastern |
48.6 |
5 |
Huntingdonshire |
Eastern |
48.0 |
6 |
Melton |
E Midlands |
47.1 |
7 |
Waveney |
Eastern |
46.6 |
8 |
Forest Heath |
Eastern |
46.1 |
9 |
Teignbridge |
South West |
45.4 |
10 |
Lichfield |
W Midlands |
45.4 |
210 (53%) of local authorities met or exceeded the national target of 25%.
- Click here to see the full council recycling league tables.
North Kesteven in Lincolnshire topped the list of high-performers, coming in with a combined recycling and composting rate of 51.5%, followed by Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire at 49.9%. Last year's high performer of St Edmundsbury slipped to fourth place with a 2% fall in its combined rate to 48.6%.
Poor performers
Worst performers saw Tower Hamlets, London with a combined rate of only 8.9% followed by neighbouring borough Newham at 10.1% and Liverpool at 10.7%.
The most improved recycling and composting rate was achieved by Ellesmere Port which saw a 22% improvement to 36.6% followed by a 20.8% improvement by Redcar and Cleveland which reached 35.7% last year.
Most improved
Defra said that the figures showed that “recycling has almost quadrupled since 1997. 26.7% of household waste was recycled in 2005/6 – exceeding the Government’s target of 25% and up from 7% in 1996/7.”
On the waste minimisation front, there was more good news from the department: “Two-thirds of authorities also reported a decrease in collected household waste per head between 2004/05 and 2005/06.”
Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw said: “This is a fantastic achievement by householders and local authorities. Recycling is a vital part of our battle against dangerous climate change. The emission saved by current levels of recycling is the equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off our roads. But performance is still far too patchy with some local authorities recycling more than 50% and some still down in the low teens.”
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Summons
Mr Bradshaw said he would be summoning a number of local authorities to explain their poor performance.
Recycling targets for 2007/08 will be the same as for 2005/06, except the floor target will be raised to 20%.
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