Rochdale has one of the best recycling rates in the north west

Rochdale Borough Council has one of the best recycling rates in the north west, new figures collated by waste experts InSinkErator show.

Data taken from DEFRA's December 2018 "Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2017/18" show that the local recycling rate is 47.9% - the eighth highest in the north west and sixth highest in Greater Manchester. Rochdale ranks at 108th of 353 councils in England.

Trafford has the highest recycling rate in the north west, ranking 16th in England with 58.5%, whilst the region with the lowest recycling rate in the north west was Barrow-in-Furness with just 19.6%, a national rank of 351.

Additionally, seven of the top 10 regions with the highest recycling rate are located in Greater Manchester.

The UK government household waste recycling targets is currently 50% by the year 2020.

Moreover, Rochdale has one of the lowest average annual amounts of household waste per person in the country, ranking 33rd lowest of 353 councils in England.

On average, residents in the borough produce an annual 308.6kg of household waste (general, food and recycling) per person – the fourth lowest in Greater Manchester and fifth lowest in the north west.

Hyndburn is the only north west region reaching the top 10 least wasteful areas, with 279.0kg of household waste per person.

 

The area producing the least amount of household waste in the country was recorded Somerset, with 228.4kg, whilst the Isles of Scilly recorded a staggering 677.8kg of waste per person, more than anywhere else in the country.

Although food waste being sent to composting is increasing year-on-year, 20% of all food that is produced is still being thrown away. Despite this, food waste remains a small proportion of waste collected in the UK at just 2%.

Nationally, collected garden waste accounts for 17% of the total, 26% is dry recycling such as card and plastic, and finally 55% is residual waste from regular black bin bags which is not recycled.

Figures for the Rochdale borough between January and December 2018 show dry recycling accounted for 25% of collected waste, whilst garden and food waste accounted for 29%. General waste made up the remaining 46%.

Councillor Neil Emmott, cabinet member for environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Our recycling rate has massively increased since 2015 when we changed the way we collected waste in Rochdale by introducing three weekly collections, alongside a new weekly collection of food and garden waste.

“Back then, we had a recycling rate of 37 per cent, compared with just under 50 per cent now. I’d like to thank residents across the borough for playing such a huge part in our recycling success.

“There’s always more that we can do and if every one of us here in Rochdale recycled one more deodorant can, it would save enough energy to power a typical primary school for 79 days.”

Chris Vella-Bone, the Ecommerce Manager for Europe and Russia at InSinkErator, added: “The recycling data from DEFRA is a great opportunity to make a real change for the future of our planet.

“We believe that everyone should be aware of the impact that all kinds of waste can have on our environment.”