- 09/10/2015
- Posted by: Mike Hedges MS
- Category: Press Releases
RECYCLING RATES CONTINUES TO RISE IN WALES
More local authorities than ever are hitting their recycling targets according to new figures.
Mike Hedges AM said….. I welcome this news that Swansea has met the Wales Government Target for Recycling. I was Leader of the Council in 2001 and was involved in the first discussions about targets for recycling in Swansea. I recall that from 7% it would be difficult to achieve 10% and almost impossible to get to 15%. These figures can only be achieved by people joining in recycling as part of their everyday lives. I hope that people can go that little bit extra and improve these figures even further.’
The 2014/15 recycling figures show that Welsh local authorities collectively met the 52% target, achieving 56.2%, an increase of 1.9% compared to the previous year. The new figures continue the year on year improvement in the numbers recycling waste in Wales, which has seen an 8-fold increase in recycling rates since the 7% rate achieved in 2000/01.
The 2014/15 Landfill Allowances Scheme (LAS) report also shows that local authorities are also continuing to significantly reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste they send to landfill. Authorities sent 256,162 tonnes of biodegradable waste to landfill in 2014/15 compared to 345,022 tonnes in 2013/14, a reduction of 26%.
Since the scheme started in 2004, Welsh local authorities have achieved a 70% reduction in the amount of biodegradable waste they landfill.
The figures are available here.
