Councils collecting less rubbish

Most councils are collecting less household rubbish

A rise in household recycling has led to local authorities in England collecting less waste than ever before, according to new figures.

More than eight out of 10 councils saw the amount of rubbish they had to collect fall in 2006/07 when compared with the previous year.

Meanwhile, more than nine out of 10 authorities recycled and composted more household waste in the same period.

But the Defra figures suggest major discrepancies between councils.

The statistics give a breakdown of how individual authorities are contributing towards attempts to reduce waste, recycle more and landfill less.

Comparing the periods 2006/07 with 2005/06, they reveal:

• 94% of authorities recycled and composted more household waste
• 83% of councils collected less household rubbish
• 88% of disposal authorities landfilled less of their municipal waste

Municipal waste is any rubbish under the control of the local authority, including household waste, and that collected by a collection authority - this can include parks and gardens waste, and commercial or industrial rubbish.

According to the figures, some councils fare better than others when it comes to assessing their green credentials.

The lowest percentage of municipal waste landfilled was 7%, recorded in the London Borough of Greenwich.

The highest was the nearby City of London, which landfilled 93% of its municipal waste.

South Somerset District Council collects the least amount of household rubbish at 397lb (180kg) per person, the figures suggest.

DEFRA WASTE ESTIMATES Councils collected 29.1 million tonnes of waste in 2006/7 from household collections and at civic amenity sites. That's an increase of 1.4% on the 28.7 million tonnes collected in 2005/6. Of that, household waste accounted for 25.9 million tonnes (89%), a 1.6% rise. A million tonnes less of waste were disposed of in landfill in 2006/07.

South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria collects the highest amount at 990lb (449kg) per person.

North Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire had the highest percentage of household recycling and composting at 55%, and Tower Hamlets in London was the lowest at 11.8%.

Climate Change and Waste Minister Joan Ruddock said of the better-performing councils: "They are helping in our battle against dangerous climate change.

"But some authorities are not doing anywhere near enough. Under-performing councils must do more to help their residents reduce their rubbish and recycle more from their homes."

Local authorities were set no statutory waste targets in 2006/07, with the next round of targets applying for the year 2007/08.

The Waste Strategy 2007 for England sets out new goals for the management of municipal and household waste.

It gives a target of reducing the amount of household waste not re-used, recycled or composted from more than 22.2 million tonnes in 2000 by 29% to 15.8 million tonnes in 2010.