A statistical release on the data, published today (15 December) indicates that the combined recycling and composting rate for waste from households stood at 44.3% in 2015 – falling down from the 44.9% rate recorded in 2014.
In its analysis of the figures, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has noted: “This is the first time the rate has fallen since it began in 2010, though the 2015 figure still represents the second highest annual value on record.”
A fall in organic waste for composting is thought to have contributed to a drop in the UK’s recycling rate according to Defra – with some suggestion that a higher temperature and level of rainfall in 2014 having contributed to a greater tonnage of green waste having been available for composting than in 2015.
Target
The figure, which has been reported to the European Commission, is likely to cause alarm within the Department, with the UK struggling to reach the 50% by 2020 target which the country is required to meet under the terms of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive.
Figures published last year suggested that the UK was labouring towards the 50% target rate, with recycling rates plateauing at close to 45% (see letsrecycle.com story) – however today’s backward step will undoubtedly lead to calls for a renewed focus on recycling from government.
A further break down of the data indicates that recycling rates in England and Northern Ireland dropped, although Wales and Scotland saw their recycling rates grow.
| Year | UK | England | NI | Scotland | Wales |
| 2010 | 40.4% | 41.2% | 37.8% | 32.5% | 44.0% |
| 2011 | 42.9% | 43.3% | 40.0% | 37.1% | 49.0% |
| 2012 | 43.9% | 44.1% | 40.7% | 38.2% | 52.1% |
| 2013 | 44.1% | 44.2% | 41.5% | 39.6% | 52.6% |
| 2014 | 44.9% | 44.8% | 42.5% | 41.0% | 54.8% |
| 2015 | 44.3% | 43.9% | 42.0% | 42.0% | 55.8% |
Wales was the top performing UK country with an overall recycling rate of 55.8%, up from 54.8% in 2014, whilst England’s rate stood at 43.9% (down from 44.8% in 2014). Scotland and Northern Ireland both posted a 42% recycling rate for 2015.
Elsewhere the data suggests that that biodegradable waste to landfill has continued to reduce – reaching 7.7 million tonnes in 2015, with around 20% of waste from local authorities having been sent to landfill.
Total waste generation in the UK – including waste from local authorities and commercial sources – has risen to 202.8 million tonnes in 2014, Defra also noted, an increase of 4.6% from 2012. This is primarily due to increased generation from construction, demolition and excavation activities.
Those UK Local Authorities who are campaigning to to be allowed to include (processed) incinerator bottom ash (IBAA) in their recycling figures will claim that this slip in the percentage shows that only by including IBAA in our recycling figures can England reach the EU, [mandatory] year 2020, 50% recycling target. They will claim that that their argument is valid as, ‘Sweden and France do it’. Of course they will not be able to produce valid evidence to back up this claim, but the Government is not after facts. It’s just as easy for it to ‘spin’ fiction to look like fact. And bingo, legislation will be enacted to allow the IBAA muck to foul up the whole recycling system.
You need to include cautions when quoting Welsh Government claims on ‘recycling’, as their definition is different from the other UK nations. They alone include incinerator ash, beach rubble and material from site reclamation, if used under roads, carparks etc., whereas others class it as ‘other recovery’. Try asking the Welsh Government for its recycling rates excluding these dubious categories.