People in Wales recycled 49% of their waste between October and December 2011. This is a record increase of 6% against the same three months in 2010. The latest report published by the Welsh Government on local authority municipal waste management shows that for the second successive quarter people have recycled almost half (49%) of their waste.
The statistics also report that residual household waste has continued to fall. During October – December every person in Wales produced 54 kilograms of waste, a drop of 5 kg per person from the October – December 2010.
“The key thing now is that we continue to build on our recycling success so that we can meet our challenging targets of 70% recycling by 2025 and zero waste by 2050,” says Environment Minister, John Griffiths. “I am very hopeful that continued effort in 2012 will see us achieving more than 50% recycling in the spring and summer months. This would mean we are diverting more than half our waste away from landfill and gaining value from the majority of our rubbish and really will be a significant milestone.”
He adds: “Not only does recycling divert rubbish away from landfill and reduce carbon emissions, it also saves on energy and ensures we are reusing precious resources that would otherwise rot in the ground.”