New doorstep recycling survey 30 March 2004
Friends of the Earth completed a survey in 2004 which found that almost three quarters of councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were failing to provide a basic recycling service to all of their residents.
The survey showed that there is still a long way to go before local authorities meet the minimum standards set out in the Household Waste Recycling Act.
Key findings from the research, completed in March 2004:
- Only 114 local authorities (29 per cent) comply with the Household Waste Recycling Act's 2010 target, offering all their households a doorstep collection of at least two materials.
- On average local authorities serve 65 per cent of households with a doorstep collection of two or more materials.
- 'Best practice' doorstep collections are more scarce. Less than half of local authorities provide a collection for five or more materials. Only 26 per cent of households on average are served with this type of collection.
- But the news isn't all bad as doorstep recycling services are growing, with 92 per cent of local authorities now offering a doorstep collection for two or more materials to some households.
Best practice doorstep recycling
Local authorities are being urged to follow Friends of the Earth's 'best practice' code to improve the collection services offered to householders and increase participation in recycling schemes.
Measures include:
- Collecting a wide range of materials on a weekly basis.
- Providing better information to householders.
- Increased effort to reach out to 'difficult' properties such as high-rise and rural dwellings.
Some local authorities run excellent recycling schemes. These need to be copied across the country if England is to have a recycling record to be proud of.
Claire Wilton, Waste Campaigner
For further information
Doorstep recycling - A good practice code and local authority case studies
(PDF† format - 241K) May 2004
This report details Friends of the Earth's Best Practice Code for doorstep recycling and looks at a number of local authorities that are operating good practice schemes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Doorstep recycling in England
(PDF† format - 241K) March 2004
This document details the findings of the survey carried out by Friends of the Earth into doorstep recycling services in England. The data was gathered from all local authorities on the range and type of collections offered and this reports provides comparisons, within and between regions, of how councils are performing.
Summary of data for England
(PDF† format - 13K) March 2004
These tables of data support the findings in the Doorstep recycling in England document above. This data originates from a survey of all the councils in England carried out between September 2003 and March 2004. This information provides a valuable baseline against which improvement can be measured.
Data for councils in each of the English regions, survey completed in March 2004:
- East of England (PDF†)
- East Midlands (PDF†)
- London (PDF†)
- North East (PDF†)
- North West (PDF†)
- South East (PDF†)
- South West (PDF†)
- West Midlands (PDF†)
- Yorkshire and Humber (PDF†)
Data for councils in Northern Ireland and Wales, survey completed in May 2004:
†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.
