England tops 40% recycling rate for first time

England topped a 40% household waste recycling and composting rate for the first time in the year to the end of June 2010, quarterly figures published by Defra today (February 3) have revealed.

The provisional 40.1% figure achieved for the period July 2009 to June 2010 represented an improvement from the 39.7% reached for the full financial year 2009/10 (see letsrecycle.com story) as well as a year-on-year increase compared to the 38.3% reached from July 2008 to June 2009.

And, the figure, which is based on data submitted by councils to the government's Waste DataFlow database, also sees England's recycling rate top the 40% household waste recycling target for 2010 which was set by the previous Labour government's Waste Strategy for England 2007.

The increase in recycling rate was accompanied by a continued decrease in the overall amount of household waste generated, which fell by 0.3% between the year April 2009-March 2010 and July 2009-June 2010 to 23.6 million tonnes.

It also saw a continuation of the trend begun in 2006/07 involving a fall in the amount of household waste generated per person, to 456 kilograms per person, of which 182kg was recycling, composted or reused, while 273kg was not.

Commenting on the figures, the waste and recycling minister, Lord Henley, said: “We're recycling more than ever before and producing less waste in the first place with people across the country working hard to make this happen.

“This is great news that we want to see continue, and as part of the waste review we're looking at how to make it even easier for us all to do the right thing.”

Council-collected waste

In its statistics release, Defra noted that 89.2% of local authority-collected waste for the year ending June 2010 came from households, and as a result trends for this mirrored those for household waste.

The recycling figure for all council-collected waste rose to 39% for the period July 2009 to June 2010 from 38.7% for the year to end March 2010, while the amount of this waste generated fell by 0.3%, from 26.541 million tonnes for the year ending March 2010 to 26.452 million tonnes to the year ending June 2010.

And, the proportion of council-collected waste sent to landfill continued its downward trajectory, from 47% for March 2009 to April 2010 to 46.1% for July 2009 to June 2010.

Friends of the Earth

The figures were welcomed by Becky Slater, waste campaigner for Friends of the Earth, who said: “The spectacular growth in recycling over the last 10 years has helped Britain save cash, tackle climate change and create thousands of new jobs.

“People around the UK are keen to get even more rubbish out of their bins – and we're all frustrated by unnecessary packaging and having to bin stuff that councils don't recycle. The Government should make more recycling possible in our homes and workplaces, and aim to halve the rubbish that has to go into our black bin bags by 2020.”