While these figures are another step in the right direction, there is still much more to do
Cllr Paul Bettison, LGA
Provisional quarterly figures from the government's WasteDataFlow database show that 33% of waste was recycled between October to December 2007 – meaning that 33.9% was recycled in the year overall.
When compared to figures for the year April 2006 to March 2007 – the last audited figures available – this represents a significant 3% rise.
At the same time, total household waste fell from 25.8 to 25.6 million tonnes and average residual household waste per head decreased from 353kg to 334kg.
The best performing regions for recycling were the East Midlands and the East, who both reached 41% in 2007, followed closely by the South West with 40%.
The worst region was London, at 25%, and the North East, at 29%.
Announcing the figures, waste minister Joan Ruddock said: “We know we can't keep throwing rubbish into landfill. My postbag is full of letters from people saying they want to recycle more. But unless they know their effors are making a real difference they won't keep trying.
“That's why statistics like these are so important. The figures published today are provisional – we will know the full picture by the end of the year – but the early results show those efforts continue to be worthwhile. Local authorities and their residents are making good progress.”
“We still have some way to go before we are perfoming at the level of some of our neighbours in Europe. But we are catching them up, and positive feedback like this should encourage all of us to keep up the effort to reduce and recycle our rubbish,” she added.
LGA
The findings were welcomed by the LGA, who described them as “encouraging” and commended councils for the improvement.
However, Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, warned that much more still needed to be done to divert waste from landfill.
He said: “While these figures are another step in the right direction, there is still much more to do. Britain is the dustbin of Europe and dumps more waste into the ground than any other country in the EU. This is costing the council taxpayer dearly in landfill taxes.
“Councils are still facing fines of up to £3 billion if we do not dramatically reduce the amount of waste thrown into landfill. It is vital we look at alternatives to the status quo to deliver an ever better deal for the taxpayer,” he added.
Provisional
Defra stressed that the data was provisional as not all returns had completed full validation and returns to WasteDataFlow could be revised by local authorities during the scheme year.
There were also seasonal effects on waste arisings and management which meant that care needed to be taken when assessing trends, it explained.
Final figures will be released in the annual National Statistics release in November 2008.
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