Date issued: 5 August 2019
Figures recently published for 2018-19 show Colchester’s recycling rates continue to rise for all materials and the amount of household rubbish being disposed of continues to decrease.
The latest figures show that 54% of the borough’s rubbish was recycled and 5% less residual waste was generated in 2018-19. This compares with 50.4% of the borough's rubbish being recycled during 2017-18.
During the period April 2018 to March 2019, 28,570 tonnes of residual waste was collected, which is 1,544 tonnes less than the 30,115 tonnes collected for the same period the previous year.
The biggest percentage increase in recycling came from plastics, which rose by 14% and comes after the council extended the collection of plastic recycling to residents living in flats last summer. Latest figures show that 69% of flat residents in the borough have benefitted from these facilities and are now able to recycle their plastics at home.
In terms of tonnage, garden waste saw the largest increase with 10,000 tonnes being collected between April 2018 and March 2019, compared to 9,328 tonnes for the same period the previous year.
Councillor Martin Goss, Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation, said: “We’re delighted that the borough’s recycling rates continue to rise, and these latest figures reflect the effort residents and the council have put into increasing recycling and reducing the material sent to landfill.
“Introducing plastic recycling in flats has clearly had a positive impact and there is still more we can do to reduce our ecological impact and live more sustainably, but these figures show that we’re continuing to see improvements and are heading in the right direction.”
Page last reviewed: 5 August 2019