27.07.15
Councils account for highest variation in local recycling
Factors within councils’ own control – not just demographics – account for most of the variation of recycling rates across the UK, research by resource efficiency experts WRAP has shown.
WRAP identified these influencing factors as whether a local authority has a food waste collection or not and whether they had effective weekly residual containment capacity.
These variables explained the nationwide variation in recycling rates, from just 39% up to 65%. Local authorities collecting food waste generally have higher recycling rates, while more residual containment capacity is associated with less recycling.
Linda Crichton, head of resource management at WRAP, said the reasons for this variation are ‘complex’ and said: “They can be within the control of an authority or contextual factors, such as demographics, that are beyond the authority’s control.
“Being able to quantify the degree to which each impact on recycling is hugely important for an authority, and this report will help make that possible.”
The report also found that there is little difference in recycling rates based on the specific dry schemes in operation, whether co-mingled, two-stream or multi-stream.
Similarly, contextual demographic variables like rurality or wealth in an area only affected recycling rates by 16% to 29%.
WRAP looked at 239 authorities covering waste collection and unitary authorities in England and unitary authorities in the UK. It included authorities that provided the same collection service for recyclable materials to 80% or more of their households.