Cheshire East household recycling rate falls 1.5%

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According to the latest government figures the recycling rates for household waste have fallen for the first time since records began. in Cheshire East has fallen by 1.5%.

Statistics from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show that the household recycling rate in England fell from 44.8% in 2014 to 43.9% in 2015. Whilst the most recent quarterly data, for January to March 2016, show that the household waste rate was 43.9%, this a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to 2014/15.

In Cheshire East the household recycling rate has fallen 1.5%. In 2014/15 it was 56.8%, however recent figures from DEFRA show that this has dropped to 55.3% for the financial year to the end of March 2016.

Government figures reveal that the North West's household recycling rate has fallen by 0.4% from 46.5% in 2014/15 to 46.1% for the financial year to end March 2016 - this marks the first fall ever recorded in the region since modern records began in 2000/2001.

The North West region ranked third out of nine English regions for the eleventh year running, behind the East of England and the South West.

Trafford MBC retains the highest household recycling rate in the North West at 60.4%, although that was a 1.5 percentage point fall compared to the same period in 2014/15. Cheshire East Council ranked fourth in the North West behind Stockport MBC and Cheshire West and Cheshire. Whilst Liverpool City Council has the lowest household recycling rate out of all local authorities in the North West, at 29.2% in 2015/16, down from 29.6% in 2014/15.

According to DEFRA, every region in England during 2015/16 experienced a decline in annual household recycling rates, other than the South West which stagnated at 47.6%.

David Palmer-Jones, CEO for SUEZ recycling and recovery in the UK, said: "The introduction of more charging by local authorities for green collections - largely garden waste - may be deterring many households from putting their cuttings out for collection and recycling rates are still measured largely by weight of materials collected with green waste tending to be wetter and heavier rather than measuring the quality and reuse value of recyclable materials collected."

He added "The UK is at a tipping point and without radical change to improve England's household recycling rates the UK will not meet its EU agreed target of 50% recycling rates by 2020. Wales has shown England that it is possible to come closer to that target thanks to a clear national policy of enforceable local targets with Wales achieving over 60.2% over the financial year to end-March 2016, up a strong 4% over the prior 12 month period of 2014/2015. Wales' recycling rates continue to improve, achieving 61% for the 12 months to end-June 2016 according to analysis of official data."

Tags:
Recycling
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Comments

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Fiona Doorbar
Tuesday 3rd January 2017 at 5:32 pm
Think I might be right in saying that Trafford area get green bin collection through the Winter months...please correct me if I am wrong but I believe that our locality is rather disillusioned with the service we are currently receiving. This, coupled , with the fact we have no local refuse facility has been reflected in this result.