DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (News Release ref
354:/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 6 November 2008
Ninety per cent of
local authorities are meeting or even exceeding their household
recycling targets, new figures published by Environment Minister
Jane Kennedy today show.
The waste statistics for all English local authorities in 2007/08
show how individual local authorities are contributing to the
national drive to reduce the amount of waste produced and then to
recycle as much of that as possible. The results show:
* 90 per cent of local authorities met or exceeded their
recycling targets;
* 90 per cent of local authorities had less residual rubbish (or
'black bag' waste) to collect than in 2006/07;
* 94 per cent of authorities recycled and composted more of their
household waste than in 2006/07; and
* 72 per cent of authorities sent a lower percentage of their
municipal waste to landfill than in 2006/07.
This shows a continued improvement on last year based on the
audited Best Value Performance Indicators for 2007/08.
Environment Minister Jane Kennedy said:
"Recycling is now part of everyday life in this country and
the way we think about waste has changed.
"Putting local councils in the driving seat is delivering
results. The Government remains committed to supporting local
authorities in continuing this revolution in recycling.
"Seeing ninety per cent of local authorities meet or exceed
their recycling targets is an important achievement.
"These figures show many local authorities taking a real
lead and I congratulate them. We need to keep this momentum going
as we can all always do more."
Other key statistics are:
* The highest household recycling/composting rate was 58.4 per
cent in East Lindsey District Council;
* East Lindsey were also the most improved authority, increasing
their recycling rate by over 20 per cent;
* Nineteen authorities had a recycling/composting rate greater
than 50 per cent in 2007/8;
* Nineteen authorities increased their recycling rate by more
than 10 per cent;
* The largest decrease in household waste to collect per head was
North Cornwall District Council - a reduction of 13.6 per cent; and
* Seven authorities had reductions in the amount of household
waste to collect of over 10 per cent.
National Statistics for municipal waste management for 2007/8 in
England and the regions were also published today. These results show:
* An increase in the national household recycling and composting
rate to 34.5 per cent in 2007/8, from 30.9 per cent in 2006/7.
This shows good progress towards the Waste Strategy target to
reuse, recycle or compost 40 per cent of household waste by 2010.
* A decrease in the amount of residual household waste from 17.9
million tonnes to 16.6 million tonnes (by 7 per cent), again
putting us on track for the Waste Strategy target to reduce this
to 15.8 million tonnes by 2010;
* A decrease in the amount of municipal waste to landfill from
16.9 to 15.5 million tonnes (or 54 per cent of total municipal
waste); and
* A decrease in the total amount of municipal waste collected
from 29.1 to 28.5 million tonnes (by 2.2 per cent). There was also
a decrease in total collected household waste from 25.8 to 25.3
million tonnes, or 1.9 per cent.
Further information on the ONS statistics can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/bulletin08.htm
Defra will continue to work with the Local Government
Association, local authorities and WRAP to support local waste
services, fund research and collate best practice to help lower
performing local authorities improve performance.
Notes to Editors
1. The full list of local authority and disposal authority
statistics are at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/archive/mwb200708.xls
2. Lists of the top ten authorities - those that have increased
recycling rates the most; reduced household waste per head; and
achieved the highest recycling and composting rates over the last
12 months, are at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/archive/mwb200708a.xls
3. Municipal waste comes under the control of the local authority
and includes household waste and other wastes collected by a waste
collection authority or its agents, such as municipal parks and
gardens waste, beach cleansing waste, commercial or industrial
waste, and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials.
4. 'Rubbish' refers to household waste that is not
reused, recycled or composted. It is sometimes referred to as
'black bag' or residual waste.
5. Local authorities were working towards Best Value Performance
Indicator (BVPI) targets in 2007/08. The BVPIs have now been
replaced by a new streamlined system of National Indicators (NIs)
for 2008/09.
6. There are three waste related indicators under the new NIs:
a. Household waste not reused, recycled or composted per head
(kilograms per person, residual waste indicator);
b. Percentage of household waste reused, recycled and composted;
c. Percentage of municipal waste sent to landfill.
Further information on the new Local Authority performance
framework can be found on the CLG website: http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/performanceframeworkpartnerships/
7. The information in this news release is based on data provided
by local authorities to WasteDataFlow. For 2007/08 there was a
100 per cent response rate from local authorities.
8. Household waste includes household collection rounds
('bin' waste), other household collections such as bulky
waste collections, waste from services such as litter collections,
waste from civic amenity sites and waste separately collected for
recycling or composting through bring/drop schemes, and kerbside
schemes. The amount of waste sent for reuse, recycling and
composting is that which is accepted by the reprocessor. As such
it excludes any recycling rejects that occur during collection,
sorting or further treatment. Waste diverted for recycling from
the residual stream by further processing is included in the
recycling tonnages.
9. The Waste Strategy 2007 for England set out new targets for
the management of municipal and household waste. A greater focus
on waste prevention was recognised through a new target to reduce
the amount of household waste not reused, recycled or composted
from over 22.2 million tonnes in 2000 by 29 per cent to 15.8
million tonnes in 2010 with an aspiration to reduce it to 12.2
million tonnes by 2020 - a reduction of 45 per cent. This is
equivalent to a fall of 50 per cent per person (from 450kg per
person in 2000 to 225kg in 2020). There are also new targets on:
* Recycling and composting of household waste - at least 40 per
cent by 2010, 45 per cent by 2015 and 50 per cent by 2020;
* Recovery of municipal waste - 53 per cent by 2010, 67 per cent
by 2015 and 75 per cent by 2020; and
* Further information can be found on the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/index.htm
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