England’s recycling rate for “waste from households” fell by 0.7 percentage points to 43.4% in 2022 compared to 44.1% in 2021.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) released statistics on local authority collected waste management for 2022/23, showing a fall in recycling rates.
“Waste from households” is the official recycling measure used for reporting at a harmonised UK level.
Household waste is broader than “waste from households” as it includes waste from street bins, street sweepings, and parks and grounds – but it does not include metals from incinerator bottom ash.
In 2022, total “waste from households” decreased to 21.5 million tonnes from 23.1 million tonnes in 2021. Defra said this is equivalent to 377 kg per person, down from 409 kg per person.
The total amount of waste recycled decreased by 8.6% in 2022, falling from 10.2 million tonnes in 2021 to 9.3 million tonnes.
In 2022, the amount of dry material recycled was 5.5 million tonnes, a 7.1% decrease from 2021.
The amount of residual waste treated was 12.1 million tonnes, down from 12.9 million tonnes in 2021, a decrease of 6.0%.
The tonnage of separately collected food waste sent for recycling was 499 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 2.6% from 512 thousand tonnes in 2021.
How are local authorities managing waste?
Local authority-managed waste decreased by 6% to 24.5 million tonnes in 2022/23.
7.2% of all local authority waste (1.8 million tonnes) was disposed of via landfill in 2022/23. This was down by 0.3 million tonnes a decrease of 16% from 2021/22.
49.1% of all local authority waste was sent to incineration; however, waste sent for incineration decreased by 0.3 million tonnes (2.8%) to 12.1 million tonnes in 2022/23.
10.0 million tonnes of local authority waste was sent for recycling in 2022/23, a decrease of 0.8 million tonnes (7.7%) from 2021/22.
Amongst the 333 local authorities in England, Defra said there is considerable variation in “household waste” recycling rates, ranging from 17.7% to 61.6% in 2022/23.
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