Meteoric rise up the recycling league table revealed by Government stats
Government figures released today have confirmed that residents in the Bath & North East Somerset Council made one of the biggest jumps of any local authority area in the country in the recycling and compost league table.
The jump from 100th to 50th out of 351 local authorities coincides with residents recycling or composting more than they send to landfill for the first time ever. The Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) figures for 2011/12 revealed that in the Bath and North East Somerset area, the average amount of waste per household disposed of during the year was 467kg. The amount of waste recycled, composted or reused was 52% with the amount going to landfill nearly 40%.
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Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said, "As a direct result of more and more households taking up food waste recycling and Bath & North East Somerset Council's waste awareness campaigns which take place all year round, more local people than ever are recycling, composting or reusing. This is excellent news for the local taxpayer because the local taxpayer is less exposed to Landfill Tax charges and the area becomes more environmentally friendly as our carbon footprint is reduced.
"There is more that can be done. We estimate that around half of households still do not use their food recycling containers. The Council will be doing everything it can to encourage those households to play their part and move us even further up the national recycling league table."
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The key reason why the Council did not move even higher was because unlike many local authorities, it has retained weekly bin collections and is proposing to do so in 2013/14 subject to confirmation of Government funding for this purpose.
The DEFRA National Statistics Release headline results were:
- In 2011/12, 43 per cent of household waste was recycled. Although this is the highest recycling rate recorded for England, the rate of increase has been levelling off, with 2011/12 being the lowest year on year increase for ten years.
- Household waste generation was 22.9 million tonnes, continuing the year on year fall seen since 2007/8. This amounts to 431kg of waste per person.
- Local Authorities recycled, composted or reused 10.7 million tonnes of the waste they collected. This amounted to more than was landfilled for the first time since records began, although an increase in incineration may have partly accounted for the change in landfill.
Play your part today
There are many ways for local people to play their part in improving recycling rates even further. Lots of information is available on the Council's website www.bathnes.gov.uk/wasteservices as well as a short video demonstrating how easy it is to food recycle.
For all the latest news from the Council subscribe to its Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/bathnes
Comments
by jezer
Thursday, November 22 2012, 9:08PM
“Well, you are lucky in BANES if you get proper recycling. Here on Wiltshire we are sadly lacking. The communal recycling bins have been removed for reasons of economy, and as I live in a conversation area I am unable to have recycling bins at my property. I emailed Wiltshire council about this and they offered me a reusable bag to put out tins, plastic bottles and cardboard. That was three months ago, and perhaps needless to say I have not received it. I have no choice now other than sending it to landfill. Why do I still pay my council tax?”
by lamail
Thursday, November 22 2012, 6:22PM
“Oh goody goody gumdrops - is there a prize?”
by wheelie_bin
Wednesday, November 21 2012, 2:10PM
“oh yes you can Roger - but I let the badgers (or maybe the local cats) have first picking on the rare occasions I eat meat.”
by Dave_Weston
Wednesday, November 21 2012, 12:14PM
“Green cone composters will take all food waste - you'd run one in parallel to a normal compost heap as you wouldn't put garden waste etc in a green cone. You'd therefore need the space for both.”
by rogerh3
Wednesday, November 21 2012, 11:48AM
“I'm one of the people that doesn't use my food recycling container - because food waste goes on the compost heap saving you even more money by not having to collect it in the first place."
You can't put all organic waste on a domestic compost heap, can you? The recycling one takes everything, though, including cooked meat and bones.
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by PurpleTurtle
Wednesday, November 21 2012, 11:12AM
“Our household has recycled everything it can for years, however after moving from the centre of Bath to PSJ, we now only have our recycling taken when May Gurney feel like it. Every week it gets nicely separated and put out for collection, but too often now we return home later to find it still in the box. Now for hygiene reasons, and to save rubbish piling up for two or more weeks, all the things we would ordinarily recycle just goes straight into the rubbish unless we happen to be going past the recycling centre ourselves. As soon as May Gurney pull their fingers out, or the contract is awarded to a company that can be bothered to do their jobs, we shall start actively recycling again.”
by wheelie_bin
Wednesday, November 21 2012, 10:41AM
“I'm one of the people that doesn't use my food recycling container - because food waste goes on the compost heap saving you even more money by not having to collect it in the first place.”