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Recycling: on course to miss targets despite rise
18 December 2003
The Government has today (18 Dec) released data showing that nine out of ten authorities are reporting an increase in recycling and composting since 2001-2. But the figures also reveal that, as we head into the New Year, only a fifth of local authorities have reached their 2003-4 targets.
Official information released in August showed that 106 out of 393 local authorities (27 per cent) had not improved their recycling performance in the last year.
While there are some shining examples of local authorities who are making huge strides in recycling - including Daventry District Council, which recycled over 44% of its rubbish in 2001-2, and Lichfield District Council which recycled 33% - many local authorities are recycling less than 3% including,
Manchester City Council, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Sunderland City Council.
Friends of the Earth's Senior Waste Campaigner Claire Wilton said:
"It is nice to have a bit of optimism before Christmas, but the Government might be celebrating too soon. By 2005-6 we must recycle 25% of our rubbish or face huge fines from Europe for not meeting our Landfill targets. We have the mammoth task of increasing our recycling rates by over 10% in the next year and a half. The Government will have to put more money into recycling and remove the perverse subsidies that incineration receives through the Climate Change Levy."
Notes
The top five recyclers in 2001-2 were:
- Daventry District Council 44 %
- Lichfield District Council 33 %
- Eastleigh Borough Council 29 %
- Forest Heath District Council 29 %
- St Edmundsbury Borough Council 29 %
- Somerset Council 25 %
- The full results are available at: www.bvpi.gov.uk/pages/KeyFacts_step1.asp
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
