There is coverage in this morning’s Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, and the I of England’s annual local authority waste recycling statistics for 2017/2018, which were published yesterday.
The recycling rate for waste from households in England in 2017 was 45.2%, up from 44.9% in 2016. In 2000, the household waste recycling rate was 11%. Just 12.5% of all local authority waste was disposed to landfill in 2017/18, down by 0.9 million tonnes or 22% to 3.2 million tonnes. This compares to 15.7% of all local authority waste disposed to landfill in 2016/17.
A Defra spokesperson said:
It is encouraging to see the recycling rate rising in England. People are producing less waste, less of that waste is being sent to landfill, and separate food waste collections are increasing.
More councils than ever are now recycling over half of all waste and the increases reported by councils such as Sutton, Stroud and Colchester show what can be achieved by offering residents a comprehensive waste collection service.
Our upcoming Resources and Waste Strategy will set out plans to make sure we continue to reduce avoidable waste and recycle more.
The Government will shortly release a renewed strategy on resources and waste that looks ahead at opportunities outside the EU. This will set out our direction of travel on recycling and our commitment to improving the quantity and quality of what we recycle.
The Strategy will cover the detail of how we will meet the ambitions for resources and waste that are set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, Clean Growth Strategy and Industrial Strategy. It will include details on our plans for greater consistency, food waste collections, DRS and Extended Producer Responsibility.