Wales beats rest of UK for recycling rates
July 26, 2012 at 10:06 am
The recycling and reusing of waste is something that the whole of the UK needs to take very seriously now that the EU waste framework directive is demanding that the UK has to recycle or reuse 50% of its waste by 2020.
At the moment Wales is leading the field after recent figures showed that the average amount of recycling per household is 48% for the 2011/12 financial year.
The figures were revealed in a report called the Local Authority Municipal Waste Management, January-March 2012, which showed that the recycling rates just keep on going up.
These figures are 4% up on the previous year, and at this rate the country will have no problem hitting the EU targets. Indeed, Wales’ aim is to reach a 52% recycling rate in 2012/13.
England is currently lagging behind on 40%, and each year the increase in the amount of recycling gets smaller, meaning it may become a real challenge to reach its EU targets.
The biggest increases in the amount of waste being recycled or reused were seen in the Vale of Glamorgan and Conwy, with each seeing rises of 10%.
By 2050 the government wants to recycle or reuse all of the country’s waste, and this is its ambitious Towards Zero Waste strategy. As part of this strategy it is aiming to increase recycling rates to 70% by 2025.
Wales is the only country to introduce required targets for municipal waste. In addition, every authority in the country currently operates green and food waste collections separately.
