Paul Deakin, vice chair, said: “This is a move forward in the right direction. Now councils have statutory standards to meet and we should see the figure rise further over the next two years.”
And, Mr Deakin said he considered the figure to be especially good if the rise in waste arisings was considered. “In truth it can be seen as a larger rise than 1.5%.”
However, Mr Deakin emphasised that for councils to be able to reach higher standards, recycling needed both a move up the political agenda and proper levels of funding support.
The Welsh view came from Brian Mayne, development officer for waste management at Vale of Glamorgan Council and Larac representative for Wales.
Mr Mayne considered that the 6% figure for Wales showed that Wales still had a lot to do against a background of cheap landfill. He said: “Taken into context with the level of financial support, 6% is good for the level of finance that we are given.”
Mr Mayne said he was optimistic that extra funding would be made available by the Assembly for Wales which is due to publish a waste strategy for the principality next month.
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