Powys on top as Welsh councils reach 19.4% recycling rate

Commenting on the recycling results, Carwyn Jones, minister for environment, planning and countryside, said that the figure showed that Wales “has come a long way since 1999, when only seven per cent of our rubbish was being recycled”.

Top of the table for Wales was Powys county council which achieved a 33.81 recycling rate with its bolstered by a 15.66 composting rate, also the highest in Wales. In second place came the rural west Wales council of Ceredigion, based in Aberystwyth, with a 32.82% which included a composting rate of only 7.18% giving it the highest recycling total of 25.64%.

” We have funded a very successful awareness-raising campaign “
– environment minister, Carwyn Jones
The worst performing authority was the capital city of Cardiff with a rate of only 10.96% which included a 6.58% recycling rate.

Emphasis

The minister put the success in reaching the 19.4% rate down to the emphasis put on recycling by the Welsh Assembly Government. “This has set tough targets for recycling, and has put the funding in place to make the targets achievable. We have funded a very successful awareness-raising campaign with the simple message 'It's our future, please don't throw it away', and funding for local authorities is delivering local recycling schemes to make it easier for people to do their bit.”

Mr Jones added: “The next target is to recycle or compost 25 per cent of our waste by 2006-07. I think that is an achievable target and am confident that the people of Wales are now on board to change the way we deal with our rubbish forever.”

Milestone

Cllr Richard Parry Hughes, chairperson of Waste Awareness Wales and WLGA spokesperson for environment and planning said: “Achieving 19.4% recycling is a significant milestone. I am delighted that people in Wales are helping their local authorities and communities to increase the amount of recycling taking place here. The results indicate that everyone is rising to the challenge of improving recycling performance.”

The targets in Wise About Waste, The National Waste Strategy for Wales for local authority recycling and composting of municipal waste are:

• 15% combined recycling and composting by 2003-04 with a minimum of

5% each of recycling and composting.

• 25% combined recycling and composting by 2006-07 with a minimum of
  10% each of recycling and composting.
• 40% combined recycling and composting by 2009-10 with a minimum of
  15% each of recycling and composting.

The full details for Welsh councils during 2004/05 were as follows: