Member Article

North East Recycling Rates Lag Behind

Recycling rates in the North East continue to lag behind the rest of the country, according to the latest figures published by Defra today. Despite recording an overall improvement of 3.5%, the North East still recorded the lowest levels in the country, recycling just 16.4% of waste in 2004/05.

Residents in Castle Morpeth scored the highest, recycling over 28% of their rubbish. By contrast, Middlesbrough and Sunderland recycled just 10% of their waste: earning them some of the worst rates in the country. Despite this, Middlesbrough did record an impressive drop in waste generation, down from 559kg per person in 2003/04 to 441kg - a drop of over 118kg. The national average is 518 kg per person. Meanwhile in Derwentside there was even a drop in recycling, down by 1.4 percentage points on 2003/04 to 12.5%.

Local Environmental Quality Minister Ben Bradshaw expressed disappointment that failing councils had not done more to raise recycling rates and stressed that recent improvements had to be sustained. He said: “In the North East, some of the authorities are making promising progress, but far too many are still not making the kind of progress we all expect. “People really want to recycle, but we must make it easy for them. Local authorities therefore have to work even harder to make that happen and help our budding recycling culture continues to flourish.” The Government intends to publish a revised waste strategy for England in the autumn, setting out the Government’s vision and strategic direction on waste for the next 20 years, as well as the policies and actions to deliver the revised strategy.

More information on the strategy review, and the rates in full, is available at www.defra.gov.uk. For top tips, features and advice on recycling see www.recyclenow.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .