Wales Recycling Efforts Shine On The World Stage
According to a new report Wales is now the third best recycling nation in the world.
The latest report published today by Resource (external link) puts us third in the municipal recycling world rankings behind the leaders Germany and Taiwan.
The figures also put us closely behind Germany as Europe’s second best recyclers. Whilst the report carries the caveat that comparison between countries remains difficult it cites Wales as a global leader due to investment and political leadership.
These figures reflect the high emphasis that Welsh Government places on recycling levels and we are awarding eight Welsh Local Authorities up to £3million to help increase the amount of waste they recycle.
The funding will help the selected Local Authorities to update their recycling methods, increase recycling rates, potentially create new jobs and increase value for money. It will be used to update recycling equipment, provide new recycling vehicles and support the building of a new Household Recycling Centre in Newtown.
Our latest quarterly statistics published in February show that Wales continues to lead the way in the UK when it comes to recycling. The figures for the 12 months ending September 2016 show the average combined reuse, recycling and composting rate across Wales’ 22 Local Authorities is 62%. This is an increase of four percentage points on the same reporting period from the previous year.
Wales is now recycling double the amount it did a decade ago and continues to be used as an example of good practice for other UK nations.
The funding will be awarded to:
- Anglesey,
- Blaenau Gwent,
- Flintshire,
- Powys,
- Rhondda Cynon Taff,
- Swansea,
- the Vale of Glamorgan,
- Wrexham
through the Welsh Government’s Collaborative Change Programme.
Welcoming the latest recycling statistics and announcing the financial support for Local Authorities, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, said:
“Its great news that we are climbing the recycling ladder and this is testament to the continued efforts of Local Authorities and householders’ commitment to recycling. It has not been easy but we have made major changes and are now recycling double the amount of waste we recycled a decade ago. We are making excellent progress, with the latest provisional figures revealing we are, exceeding the current 58% recycling target set in our strategy Towards Zero Waste.”
“I’m pleased we are providing up to £3million to support Local Authorities for improvements which will help to boost recycling rates even further and support us in our ambition to become the highest recycling nation in world.”
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