England nears 23% household waste recycling rate

The figures for 2004/05 suggest England is on track to meet the national target to recycle 25% of household waste by the end of this year (2005/06).

Recycling of household waste has doubled in the last four years, according to the provisional national estimate.

Performance around the country varies with, on average, residents in the North East recycling the least (16%) and people in East of England recycling the most (29%). The greatest leap has been in the East Midlands, up 7% on last year to 27%.

Recycling figures showing the best councils for recycling are not to be published for some months, a Defra spokesperson told letsrecycle.com.

Local Environmental Quality Minister, Ben Bradshaw, said: “These figures prove how much more people understand the importance of recycling compared to even just four years ago. There's no doubt we can be proud of our progress to date, but now it's time to build on that and start catching up with some of Europe's top recyclers.

Consultation
In future, all local authorities will have to maintain and improve their recycling levels according to Defra, which is to publish a consultation shortly with proposals for new statutory performance standards for 2007/08.

Later in the year, Government will consult on the format and level of any future performance standards for local authorities, as part of the review of its Waste Strategy 2000.

Mr Bradshaw said: “Local authorities will have to look at improving their recycling rates too. We want to be well on the way to our 2010 target of 30% of waste being recycled – sooner rather than later. Some of our European counterparts are doing it, some parts of this country are too, so it is not an unrealistic goal,” the minister said.

In the meantime, Defra and the WRAP are continuing to work with local authorities and retailers to pilot and roll out new ways – from new technology at recycling &#39b;ring' banks to financial incentives such as discount vouchers – to get people recycling more.

Incentives
A new multi-million pilot programme of local authority household incentives is due to start in October which will pilot, test and assess various approaches to incentivising household behaviour.

According to WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), which runs the Government's national Recycle Now campaign for England, every household could recycle up to 60% of its waste.

WRAP, one of the organisations tasked with improving the UK's resource efficiency, thinks the key to recycling success lies in maintaining the momentum.

“We all care about the environment in one way or another, and the great thing about recycling is that it's a really easy way in which we can each make an individual contribution,” explained Jennie Price, Chief Executive of WRAP.

“Local authorities have been working hard to boost awareness and to make it much easier for us to recycle. Nearly 80% of England's households now have doorstep recycling schemes – now we all need to make sure we use them.”