Local authority collected waste management - annual results 2022/23
Updated 1 March 2024
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-collected-waste-management-annual-results/local-authority-collected-waste-management-annual-results-202223
This release relates to the collection and management of waste under the possession or control of local authorities in England. It covers three principal measures as summarised in the table below.
The next update to this Accredited Official Statistics notice and accompanying datasets is scheduled to be in December 2024/January 2025.
What data is confirmed in this release?
| Measure | Time period |
|---|---|
| ‘Waste from Households’ – This is the official recycling measure that is used as the basis for reporting at a harmonised UK level. | First publication of figures for the 2022 calendar year and for the 2022/23 financial year. |
| Local authority collected waste – This is all waste within the remit of local authorities. It includes household waste plus other non-household waste collected by local authorities. | First publication of figures for the 2022/23 financial year. |
| Household waste – This is broader than ‘waste from households’, and includes waste from street bins, street sweepings, and parks and grounds. It does not include metals from incinerator bottom ash. | First publication of figures for the 2022/23 financial year. |
For more information about what data is included in the three measures listed in the table above, please refer to the section on Glossary of terms and measures and the separate methodology document. A reference document giving an explanation of what recycling is and comparing measures across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is available.
Datasets for the national and regional data, as well as data at local authority level—including the ex-National Indicator measures—are available at the gov.uk website
1. Key points
England ‘Waste from Households’: 2022 and 2022/23 (Table 1 and Figure 1)
- The official England ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 43.4 per cent in 2022, down 0.7 percentage points from 44.1 per cent in 2021.
- Metal recovered and then recycled from waste that has been through incineration (IBA metal) added approximately 1.0 percentage points to the recycling rate in 2022, this was unchanged from 2020.
- In 2022, total ‘waste from households’ decreased to 21.5 million tonnes from 2021 when it was 23.1 million tonnes. This is equivalent to 377 kg per person, down from 409 kg per person in 2021, a decrease of 7.9 per cent.
- The amount of residual waste treated was 12.1 million tonnes, down from 12.9 million tonnes in 2021, a decrease of 6.0 per cent.
- The total amount of waste recycled decreased. In 2022, it was 9.3 million tonnes, down from 10.2 million tonnes in 2021. This was a decrease of 8.6 per cent.
- The amount of dry material recycled in 2022 was 5.5 million tonnes, down by 0.4 million tonnes from 2021, a decrease of 7.1 per cent.
- The tonnage of separately collected food waste sent for recycling was 499 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 2.6 per cent from 512 thousand tonnes in 2021.
- ‘Other organic’ waste sent for recycling was 3.3 million tonnes, a decrease of 442 thousand tonnes or 12 per cent on 2021.
- The rolling 12-month ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 43.3 per cent at the end of March 2023. This is a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared with the previous 12-month period. This figure includes IBA metal.
England Local Authority and Household Waste: 2022/23 financial year (Table 4 and Figure 7)
- In 2022/23, total local authority managed waste decreased by 6.0 per cent to 24.5 million tonnes.
- 7.2 per cent of all local authority waste (1.8 million tonnes) was disposed of via landfill in 2022/23. This was down by 0.3 million tonnes a decrease of 16 per cent from 2021/22.
- Waste sent for incineration decreased by 0.3 million tonnes (2.8 per cent) to 12.1 million tonnes in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22. It was the disposal method used for 49.1 per cent of all local authority waste.
- There are no changes to definitions or methodology for all local authority and ‘household waste’ recycling figures; IBA metal is not included.
- 10.0 million tonnes of local authority waste were sent for recycling in 2022/23, a decrease of 0.8 million tonnes (7.7 per cent) on 2021/22.
- Amongst the 333 local authorities in England, there is considerable variation in ‘household waste’ recycling rates, ranging from 17.7 to 61.6 per cent in 2022/23.
Datasets for the national and regional data, as well as data at local authority level—including the ex-National Indicator measures—are available at the gov.uk website.
1.1 Data Revisions
The following revisions have been made to the statistics shown in this statistical notice for:
- Table 1: ‘Waste from Households’ Residual waste - all years, and ‘waste from household’ recycling tonnages in 2020.
- Table 4: Total local authority waste and waste sent to “other” all years.
- There are some other revisions which affect the accompanying datasets to this notice.
Further explanation and detail on these can be found in the Data and Methodology section of this notice.
1.2 Recycling Explainer
A document giving an explanation of what can be counted as recycling, different national recycling measures and summarising how measures across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ is available.
1.3 Give us feedback on this notice
To help us understand your information and data needs, please complete the short survey consisting of 4 questions. (This link opens in google forms).
2. ‘Waste from Households’
2.1 ‘Waste from Households’ (Table 1)
‘Waste from households’ is the measure introduced by the UK in 2014 to provide a harmonised UK indicator for reporting recycling rates at a UK level. It excludes local authority collected waste not considered to have come directly from households, such as street bins, street sweepings, parks and grounds waste, and compost-like output.
For more information, refer to the Data and Methodology section of this notice.
There are revisions to the residual waste figures shown in Table 1. These changes do not affect the recycling rate. See the data & methodology section of this notice for further detail.
Table 1: Composition breakdown and recycling rate of ‘waste from households’ in England, 2018 to 2022, (thousand tonnes)
| Waste type | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | % change 2022 over 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Recycling of which: | 9,840 | 10,054 | 9,935 | 10,200 | 9,322 | -8.6% |
| — Dry recycling of which: | 5,866 | 5,874 | 5,871 | 5,969 | 5,546 | -7.1% |
| —— IBA Metal | 187 | 201 | 222 | 228 | 222 | -2.6% |
| — Separately collected food waste | 414 | 437 | 485 | 512 | 499 | -2.6% |
| — Other organics recycling | 3,561 | 3,743 | 3,579 | 3,718 | 3,277 | -11.9% |
| Total Residual | 12,160 | 11,993 | 12,616 | 12,901 | 12,125 | -6.0% |
| Total waste from Households | 22,033 | 22,074 | 22,586 | 23,120 | 21,466 | -7.2% |
| Waste from households recycling rate (including IBA metal) | 44.7% | 45.5% | 44.0% | 44.1% | 43.4% | -0.7 percentage points |
| Waste from households recycling rate (excluding IBA metal) | 43.8% | 44.6% | 43.0% | 43.1% | 42.4% | -0.7 percentage points |
Notes - Table 1
Total recycling is calculated from disposal tonnages sent to reprocessors as reported in WasteDataFlow. The processing of collected waste and recycling, stockpiling, process loss and transfer means that there are inevitably differences between collected and disposal tonnages reported by local authorities. For these reasons Total Recycling and Total Residual Waste will not sum to Total ‘Waste from Households’. Subtotals in the table may not add due to rounding.
Total waste from households is calculated from collection tonnages reported in WasteDataFlow. It includes dry recycling/preparing for reuse and organics, and residual waste (or ‘black bag’ waste) and rejects from recycling. It excludes collected tonnages of plasterboard, rubble, or soil. IBA metal is included in the recycling figures.
Where information on some secondary waste treatments of smaller waste tonnages is not available and waste has been reported as going to treatment unknown (typically for rejects from the recycling stream), there has been a change to calculation methodology and this waste is now allocated to residual waste. See the data & methodology section of this notice for further detail.
Download the data for this table
- In 2022, the total weight of ‘waste from households’ in England was 21.5 million tonnes, a 7.2 per cent decrease down from 23.1 million tonnes in 2021.
- The weight of waste sent for recycling was 9.3 million tonnes in 2022, an 8.6 per cent decrease from 10.2 million tonnes in 2021.
- Residual waste was 12.1 million tonnes in 2022, down from 12.9 million tonnes in 2021. This was a decrease of 6.0 per cent.
- The ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 43.4 per cent in 2022, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from 2021 when the rate was 44.1 per cent.
- Other organics (mostly green garden waste) make a significant contribution to the overall recycling rate. In 2022 the tonnage of ‘other organics’ decreased by 0.4 million tonnes, 11.9 per cent lower than in 2021. This was mainly due to dry weather conditions limiting plant growth.
- Metals recovered from incinerated waste and then recycled (IBA metal) contributed 222 thousand tonnes, down from 228 thousand tonnes in 2021. This was a decrease of 2.6 per cent.
- When IBA metal is excluded, the ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 42.4 per cent in 2022, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the 2021 rate of 43.1 per cent.
2.2 ‘Waste from Households’: Waste Streams (Figures 1 to 5)
Figure 1: Waste composition: Waste stream proportions as a percentage of total ‘waste from households’, 2018-2022, England
Notes - Figure 1
Residual waste includes residual ‘waste from households’ regular collections (black bags), bulky waste, residual waste from civic amenity centres, and rejects from recycling. It excludes waste diverted for recycling from residual waste.
Dry recycling includes paper and card, glass, plastic, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), scrap metals including those reclaimed from incinerator bottom ash as well as other materials.
Other organics includes green garden waste, mixed garden and food waste, wood for composting and other compostable waste.
Percentages may not add to exactly 100. This is due to rounding.
Download the data for this chart
- A total of 21.5 million tonnes of ‘waste from households’ was treated in England in 2022. Of this, 56.5 per cent was residual waste, 25.9 per cent was dry recycling, 15.3 per cent was ‘other organics’—including green garden waste and mixed garden and food waste—and 2.3 per cent was separately collected food waste.
- The majority (59.5 per cent) of ‘waste from households’ recycling in 2022 was dry recyclate.
- The tonnage of dry recycling, which includes paper and card, glass, plastic, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and scrap metals including those reclaimed from incinerator bottom ash, as well as other materials decreased to 5.5 million tonnes in 2022. As a proportion of total ‘waste from households’ it was 25.9 per cent in 2022.
- Separately collected food waste fell by 2.6 per cent to 499 thousand tonnes in 2022 from 512 thousand tonnes in 2021. Whilst only a small proportion of total ‘waste from households’ recycling at 5.4 per cent it has increased from 1.3 per cent in 2010.
- The tonnage of ‘other organic’ waste (including garden waste, mixed garden and food waste, wood for composting and other compostable waste) decreased by 0.4 million tonnes or 12 per cent to 3.3 million tonnes in 2022. “Other organics accounted for 35.2 per cent of total ‘waste from households’ recycling, 1.3 percentage points lower than in 2021.
- Organic waste tonnages are variable, linked to the season and weather and plant growing conditions. In 2022 the main impact to organic tonnages was caused by the hot dry summer.
2.3 Waste from Households: quarterly trends (Figure 2)
A quarterly data series for the ‘waste from households’ measure is available
Figure 2: Waste from Households: Quarterly trends Jan - Mar 2018 to Oct - Dec 2023
Download the data for this chart
Figure 2 shows quarterly tonnages of total residual, total recycling and total ‘waste from households’ in the last 5 years. There is seasonal variation in quarterly waste tonnages. This is mostly due to the contribution of organic garden waste. Tonnages of organics are usually at their highest levels in April to June, and lowest in January to March when garden waste collections reduce over the winter period. Variation in organic waste tonnages between years is mainly due to weather conditions affecting plant growth.
Figure 2 shows how trends have changed since 2018 with the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic increasing waste generation in 2020 and 2021.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic kerbside collections of waste and in particular waste deposited at household waste recycling centres (HWRC) were disrupted. This impacted the tonnage of waste collected in April to June 2020, when total ‘waste from household’ stood at 5.7 million tonnes, the lowest April to June figure across the 5 years.
Increased time at home during the pandemic resulted in higher waste generation. Total ‘waste from households’ rose to its highest quarterly levels between July to September 2020 through to July to September 2021. The highest quarterly tonnage during this period was in April to June 2021 when residual waste tonnages rose to 3.3 million tonnes and total ‘waste from households’ was 6.2 million tonnes. 2021 had the highest recorded tonnage of ‘waste from households’ of the last 12 calendar years from 2010.
In 2022, total ‘waste from households’ fell to 21.5 million tonnes. This is the lowest annual tonnage across the 12 years. There were decreases across each of the waste streams. Residual waste tonnages decreased, returning to pre pandemic levels in 2022. Quarterly decreases in the tonnage of material sent for recycling in 2022 are detailed below.
Whilst we can say with some confidence that the bulk of the decrease in the tonnage of organic waste collected in 2022 was primarily due to weather conditions reducing plant growth, there is less certainty about the main drivers for the overall decreases in dry re-cyclate and residual waste. Decreases in the first half of 2022 are accentuated by the continuing impact of the pandemic in 2021.
Other factors driving the decreases may be increases in the cost of living reducing expenditure on food, and the home. It’s possible that further increases in the number of people returning to a place of work maybe further reducing waste generation in the home.
Figure 3 shows quarterly changes in the tonnage of total recycling for ‘waste from households’ in England between 2021 and 2022.
Figure 3: Quarterly year on year change in weight of recycled ‘waste from households’, 2022 compared to 2021, England
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- Compared to the same periods in 2021, all recycling streams decreased in all quarters of 2022 except for ‘Separately Collected Food Waste’ which increased by 1 thousand tonnes in October to December.
- ‘Other Organics’ decreased across the year. The largest decrease was in July – September 2022 when they fell by 27 per cent, accounting for most of the decrease in ‘Total Recycling’ of 15 per cent.
- Dry recycling decreased across the year, with tonnages of material falling back to and below pre COVID-19 pandemic levels – see figure 4 below. The largest decreases were in the first two quarters of 2022, due to the higher volumes of waste generated in 2021 as a result of the pandemic.
2.4 ‘Waste from households’: Recycling trends and recycling rates (Figures 4 and 5)
Quarterly trends over a longer time period from January to March 2018, are shown in Figures 4 and 5, which incorporate data for the latest available quarter, January to March 2022, as well.
Figure 4: ‘Waste from households’ quarterly recycling volumes by waste type, England, Jan-Mar 2018 to Jan-Mar 2023, with 12 month moving averages (thousand tonnes)
Notes - Figure 4
Dry recycling includes paper and card, glass, plastic, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), scrap metals including those reclaimed from incinerator bottom ash as well as other materials.
Other organics includes green garden waste, mixed garden and food waste, wood for composting and other compostable waste.
Download the data for this chart
Figure 5 shows quarterly dry and organic recycling as a proportion of total ‘waste from households’ and a smoothed 12-month rolling average for the overall recycling rate.
The smoothed 12-month rolling average ‘waste from households’ recycling rate has ranged from 43.5 to 45.5 per cent over this time period.
Figure 5: ‘Waste from households’ quarterly recycling rate, England, Jan-Mar 2018 to Jan-Mar 2023
Notes - Figure 5
Recycling is ’recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion, and preparing for reuse.
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2.5 ‘Waste from households’: Dry Recycling Composition (Figure 6 and Tables 2 and 3)
- Dry recycling including IBA metals decreased by 0.4 million to 5.5 million tonnes in 2022. It made up 25.9 per cent of total ‘waste from households’ and 59.5 per cent of all ‘waste from households’ recycling.
- Glass decreased by 120 thousand tonnes (-8.5 per cent) in 2022. Plastics decreased by 30 thousand tonnes (-5.7 per cent), metals decreased by 28 thousand tonnes (-11 per cent).
- Paper and card decreased by 196 thousand tonnes (-9.1 per cent). Textiles decreased by 5 thousand tonnes (-4.5 per cent), and metals from IBA decreased by 6 thousand tonnes (-2.6 per cent).
- WEEE decreased by 26 thousand tonnes (-5.1 per cent).
- Other materials decreased by 13 thousand tonnes (-1.7 per cent).
Table 2: ‘Waste from households’ dry recycling composition in England, 2020 to 2022.
| Recyclate | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Percentage change 2021 to 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper and card | 1438 | 1413 | 1293 | -8.5% |
| Glass | 2101 | 2156 | 1960 | -9.1% |
| Other materials | 87 | 100 | 96 | -4.5% |
| WEEE & other scrap metals | 528 | 522 | 492 | -5.7% |
| Plastic | 465 | 508 | 482 | -5.1% |
| Metals | 222 | 228 | 222 | -2.6% |
| IBA metal | 270 | 268 | 240 | -10.6% |
| Textiles | 761 | 774 | 761 | -1.7% |
| Total | 5871 | 5969 | 5546 | -7.1% |
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Figure 6: ‘Waste from households’ dry recycling composition, England, 2018 to 2022 (thousand tonnes)
Notes - Figure 6
Other materials includes batteries (both automotive and post-consumer), bric-a-brac, chipboard and MDF, composite food and beverage cartons, composite wood materials, fire extinguishers, furniture, ink and toner cartridges, mattresses, mineral oil, paint, tyres (car, large vehicle, van and mixed tyres), vegetable oil, video tapes, DVDs and CDs, wood, and other.
Download the data for this chart
The relative proportions of the materials that made up dry recycling in 2019, 2020 and 2021, and 2022, are shown in Table 3
Table 3: ‘Waste from households’ dry recycling composition by percentage proportion in England, 2020 to 2022.
| Recyclate | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Percentage point change 2021 to 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper and card | 35.8% | 36.1% | 35.3% | 0.8% |
| Glass | 24.5% | 23.7% | 23.3% | 0.4% |
| Other materials | 13.0% | 13.0% | 13.7% | -0.8% |
| WEEE & other scrap metals | 7.9% | 8.5% | 8.7% | -0.2% |
| Plastic | 9.0% | 8.7% | 8.9% | -0.1% |
| Metals | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.3% | 0.2% |
| IBA metal | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.0% | -0.2% |
| Textiles | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
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- Despite some variations in tonnages, the relative proportions of materials had not substantially changed up to 2020.
- Proportions changed during 2020 and 2021 chiefly due to increased tonnages of glass, paper and card, and decreases in tonnages of WEEE & Other Scrap Metals, Metals, and Textiles.
- Compared to 2021 the relative proportions of Other Materials, WEEE & Other Scrap metals, Plastic, and IBA Metal all increased in 2022, while paper & card, glass and metals all decreased. The proportion of Textiles did not change in 2022.
- Relative proportions of most material types appear to be returning towards pre-pandemic proportions, although notably glass remains 2.4 percentage points above the 2019 level, while other materials are 1.9 percentage points below.
3. ‘Waste from Households’ – Financial Year Figures
- In 2022/23, the total weight of ‘waste from households’ in England decreased to 21.3 million tonnes down 6.6 per cent from 22.8 million tonnes in 2021/22.
- The amount of ‘waste from households’ sent to recycling in 2022/23 decreased to 9.2 million tonnes, down 8.3 per cent from 2021/22.
- The ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 43.3 per cent in 2022/23 a decrease of 0.8 percentage points on the 2021/22 recycling rate, which was 44.1 per cent.
- Dry recycling was 5.5 million tonnes in 2022/23, decreasing by 5.9 per cent from 5.8 million in 2021/22. Organic recycling decreased by 12 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes.
- The tonnage of residual waste in 2022/23 was 5.3 per cent lower than in 2021/22, down 0.7 million to 12.1 million tonnes. As a proportion of ‘waste from households’, it increased by 0.8 percentage points to 56.6 per cent of the total.
4. Management of All Local Authority Collected Waste, 2022/23 (Table 4 and Figure 7)
Local authority collected waste consists of all ‘waste from households’, street sweepings, municipal parks and gardens waste, beach cleansing waste, and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials plus some commercial and/or industrial waste. For further detail, see Annex 1 of “Local authority waste statistics – Recycling measures” on gov.uk.
As a result of changes in reporting through Q100, it is not appropriate when referring to the management of waste for landfill, incineration or recovery to compare the data for April 2015 onwards too closely to any of the previous annual data. In particular, Q100 allows for more extensive reporting of refuse derived fuel (RDF), incineration, and outputs from incineration.
- Total local authority managed waste in 2022/23 was 24.5 million tonnes, down by 1.6 million tonnes (6.0 per cent) from 2021/22.
- 7.2 per cent of all local authority collected waste was sent to landfill in 2022/23. This was a total of 1.8 million tonnes, 0.3 million tonnes lower (a decrease of 16 per cent) than in 2021/22.
- 82.6 per cent (1.5 million tonnes) of waste sent to landfill was sent direct in 2022/23. This is an increase from 2021/22, when 80.1 per cent of all local authority collected waste was sent direct to landfill.
- 49.1 per cent of all local authority waste was incinerated in 2022/23. This was a total of 12.1 million tonnes, and a decrease of 0.3 million tonnes (2.8 per cent) from 2021/22.
- 70.4 per cent (8.5 million tonnes) of waste sent to incineration was sent direct in 2022/23. This proportion is slightly higher than in 2021/22 when 70.2 per cent (8.7 million tonnes) of local authority collected waste was sent direct to incineration.
- The amount of local authority collected waste sent for recycling in 2022/23 was 10 million tonnes, down 0.8 million tonnes from 2021/22. Waste sent for recycling comprised 40.7 per cent of all local authority waste, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points from 2021/22.
- Table 4 shows the tonnage of local authority collected waste sent to landfill, incineration, or recycling for the past five years. Figure 7 shows how local authority collected waste has been managed since 2000/01.
There are some revisions to the calculation methodology in table 4. Some generally small tonnages of collection rejects were being omitted from calculations. These have now been included within “other” and “Total local authority waste managed” figures. For further detail on this change refer to the data & methodology section of this notice.
Table 4: Management of all local authority collected waste financial year figures, England, 2018/19 to 2022/23 (thousand tonnes)
| Waste disposal method | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2022/23 % change over 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landfill | 2,756 | 2,169 | 2,016 | 2,109 | 1,764 | -16.4% |
| Recycled/composted of which:- | 10,926 | 10,949 | 10,708 | 10,840 | 10,001 | -7.7% |
| — Household waste | 10,007 | 10,085 | 10,080 | 10,056 | 9,220 | -8.3% |
| — Non household waste | 919 | 864 | 627 | 784 | 781 | -0.4% |
| Total incineration of which:- | 11,205 | 11,633 | 12,466 | 12,393 | 12,051 | -2.8% |
| — Incineration with EfW | 11,031 | 11,448 | 12,342 | 12,294 | 11,963 | -2.7% |
| — Incineration without EfW1 | 174 | 185 | 124 | 99 | 88 | -11.1% |
| Other | 702 | 820 | 713 | 786 | 732 | -6.9% |
| Total local authority waste managed | 25,589 | 25,572 | 25,903 | 26,128 | 24,548 | -6.0% |
| Recycled/composted waste as percentage of total | 42.7% | 42.8% | 41.3% | 41.5% | 40.7% | -0.8 percentage points |
Notes - Table 4
Incineration with energy recovery/without energy recovery includes incineration bottom ash (IBA) and metals from IBA.
Recycling figures in this table do not include metals recovered from IBA.
Numbers may not add to exact totals. This is due to rounding.
Download the data for this table
Figure 7: Management of all local authority collected waste and recycling rates, England, 2000/01–2022/23
Notes - Figure 7
* Incineration with energy recover/without energy recovery includes incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and metals from IBA. This is consistent with the existing definition for household waste recycling so is not impacted by the change in ‘waste from households’ recycling definition.
** Other includes waste treated/disposed of through other unspecified methods as well as process and moisture loss.
*** The Household waste recycling rate is based on a broader measure of waste and is not directly comparable to the ‘waste from households’ recycling rate. For further information on definitions, refer to the glossary.
IBA metals are included within the ‘waste from households’ recycling rate shown on this chart from April 2015/16 onwards but are not included in household waste recycling.
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5. England and the Regions Local Authority Collected Waste Destinations (Table 5 and Figure 8)
There are regional differences in the management of local authority collected waste, as shown in Table 5 and Figure 8.
Table 5: Management of all local authority collected waste, England by region, 2022/23 (thousand tonnes)
| Region | Landfill (thousand tonnes) | Landfill (% of total) | Incineration (thousand tonnes) | Incineration (% of total) | Recycled/Composted (thousand tonnes) | Recycled/Composted (% of total) | Other (thousand tonnes) | Other (% of total) | Total (thousand tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 263 | 11.9 | 982 | 44.5 | 906 | 41.0 | 59 | 2.6 | 2,209 |
| Eastern | 640 | 22.9 | 888 | 31.8 | 1,234 | 44.1 | 35 | 1.3 | 2,797 |
| London | 5 | 0.1 | 2,261 | 65.2 | 1,006 | 29.0 | 197 | 5.7 | 3,469 |
| North East | 144 | 11.5 | 689 | 55.3 | 392 | 31.4 | 22 | 1.8 | 1,246 |
| North West | 326 | 9.6 | 1,437 | 42.3 | 1,533 | 45.2 | 99 | 2.9 | 3,394 |
| South East | 119 | 3.0 | 1,885 | 48.2 | 1,750 | 44.8 | 156 | 4.0 | 3,910 |
| South West | 106 | 4.2 | 1,162 | 46.0 | 1,227 | 48.6 | 31 | 1.2 | 2,526 |
| West Midlands | 103 | 3.9 | 1,490 | 57.0 | 970 | 37.1 | 52 | 2.0 | 2,614 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 59 | 2.5 | 1,257 | 52.8 | 984 | 41.3 | 82 | 3.4 | 2,382 |
| England | 1,764 | 7.2 | 12,051 | 49.1 | 10,001 | 40.7 | 732 | 3.0 | 24,548 |
Notes - Table 5
Incineration includes incineration with energy recover/without energy recovery. This includes incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and metals from IBA.
Recycled/Composted refers to the proportion of all local authority collected waste sent for recycling/composting.
Other includes waste treated/disposed of through other unspecified methods as well as process and moisture loss.
Numbers may not add to exact totals. This is due to rounding.
Download the data for this table
- The South East managed the largest tonnage of local authority collected waste in 2022/23 at 3.9 million tonnes. This was 15.9 per cent of all local authority collected waste in England. The North East managed the smallest tonnage in 2022/23 at 1.2 million tonnes, or 5.1 per cent of the total for England.
- The Eastern region sent the largest proportion of their total local authority collected waste to landfill at 22.9 per cent (0.6 million tonnes). London sent the smallest proportion at 0.1 per cent. At a national level, 7.2 per cent of all local authority collected waste in England was sent to landfill in 2022/23. This was 1.8 million tonnes.
- London sent the largest proportion of their total local authority collected waste to incineration in 2022/23 at 65.2 per cent (2.3 million tonnes). Eastern region sent the smallest proportion at 31.8 per cent (0.9 million tonnes). Overall, 49.1 per cent of all local authority collected waste in England was sent to incineration in 2022/23. This was 12.1 million tonnes.
- In England, 10.0 million tonnes (40.7 per cent) of local authority collected waste was sent for recycling in 2022/23. The region that sent the largest proportion of local authority collected waste to recycling was the South West, which sent 1.3 million tonnes (48.6 per cent). The region that sent the lowest proportion of waste to recycling was London, which sent 1.0 million tonnes (29.0 per cent).
Figure 8: Management of all local authority collected waste, England by region, 2022/23 (proportions of total local authority collected waste)
Notes - Figure 8
* Incineration includes incineration with energy recover/without energy recovery. This includes incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and metals from IBA.
** Recycling refers to the proportion of all local authority collected waste sent for recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion or reuse.
Download the data for this chart
6. Household Waste Recycling
6.1 Household Waste Recycling Rates for England and the Regions (Figure 9)
The ‘household waste’ (ex-NI 192) measure is a broader definition of waste than the ‘waste from households’ measure. It includes street bins, street sweepings, gully-emptying, parks and grounds waste, soil, and compost-like output, as well as separately collected healthcare waste and asbestos. It does not include IBA metals.
At a regional level, there is considerable variation across authorities, influenced by how heavily populated an area is, the kind of housing present, and the level of other organic or garden waste collected. As an example, in built-up areas with a higher proportion of flats, residents may find it difficult or be unwilling to store waste for recycling; and will not be producing garden waste for collection. This will reduce recycling rates for these authorities. Similarly, authorities with higher recycling rates are likely to be advantaged by good householder response to recycling schemes and a higher tonnage of organic or garden waste being collected.
Regional differences are illustrated in Figure 9.
Figure 9: ‘Household waste’ recycling rates, England and regions, 2021/22 and 2022/23
Download the data for this chart
- The region with the highest ‘household waste’ recycling rate in 2022/23 was the South West at 48.2 per cent. The North East had the lowest ‘household waste’ recycling rate in 2022/23 at 31.2 per cent.
- All regions had decreases in their recycling rates, except for London which was unchanged. The North East region had the largest decrease of 2.3 2 percentage points.
6.2 Household Waste Recycling Rates for Individual Local Authorities (Table 6)
A dataset of recycling rates for all local authorities in England can be found in Table 3 of the local authority collected waste generation dataset.
- At an individual local authority level, ‘household waste’ recycling rates ranged from 17.7 per cent to 61.6 per cent in 2022/23. The overall average rate for England was 41.7 per cent, a 0.8 percentage point decrease from 2021/22.
- ‘Household waste’ recycling is often similar in adjacent authorities, though there is a wide range between the highest and lowest recycling rates in all regions of England and even within a region. Figure 1 in the datasets accompanying this statistical notice shows the geographic distribution of ‘household waste’ recycling rates in 2022/23.
- Table 6 shows the authorities with the highest and lowest recycling rates in each region as well as the proportion of their total recycling that consists of organic waste. Generally, an authority in which a smaller proportion of their total recycling is accounted for by organic waste will have a lower recycling rate, though this is not always the case.
Table 6: Local authorities with the highest and lowest household recycling rates in each region in 2022/23
| Region | Position | Authority | Recycling rate | Percent of total recycling that is organic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | Lowest | Nottingham City Council | 25.1% | 37.3% |
| East Midlands | Highest | Derbyshire Dales District Council | 52.7% | 54.0% |
| Eastern | Lowest | Luton Borough Council | 24.9% | 25.8% |
| Eastern | Highest | Three Rivers District Council | 61.5% | 49.2% |
| London | Lowest | Tower Hamlets LB | 17.7% | 7.8% |
| London | Highest | Bromley LB | 48.7% | 50.3% |
| North East | Lowest | Middlesbrough Borough Council | 23.1% | 47.2% |
| North East | Highest | County Durham | 37.1% | 29.3% |
| North West | Lowest | Liverpool City Council | 17.9% | 29.2% |
| North West | Highest | Stockport MBC | 59.3% | 60.4% |
| South East | Lowest | Dartford Borough Council | 23.5% | 25.5% |
| South East | Highest | South Oxfordshire District Council | 61.6% | 55.1% |
| South West | Lowest | Exeter City Council | 24.5% | 36.2% |
| South West | Highest | East Devon District Council | 59.5% | 52.1% |
| West Midlands | Lowest | Birmingham City Council | 22.9% | 29.8% |
| West Midlands | Highest | Stratford-on-Avon District Council | 60.0% | 60.0% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | Lowest | Kirklees MBC | 26.0% | 39.4% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | Highest | East Riding of Yorkshire Council | 58.4% | 51.8% |
Download the data for this table
- Across the different regions, the range (or difference) in recycling rate between the highest performing local authority and the lowest performing local authority varied between 14 and 41 percentage points.
- The region with the widest range in its recycling was the North West at 41.4 percentage points, followed by the South East at 38.1 percentage points. West Midlands had a range of 37.1 percentage points followed by Eastern at 36.6 and South West at 35.0 percentage points. Yorkshire and Humber had a range of 32.4 percentage points followed by London at a range of 31.0 percentage points, then East Midlands at a range of 27.6 percentage points. The region with the smallest range in its recycling rates is the North East at 14.0 percentage points.
- Overall, in England a total of five authorities had ‘household waste’ recycling rates of 60 per cent or higher, down from seven in 2021/22. Sixty-seven authorities had recycling rates greater than 50 per cent.
- South Oxfordshire had the highest ‘household waste’ recycling rate in England in 2022/23 at 61.6 per cent. Organic waste made up 55.1 per cent of their total household recycling tonnage. Three Rivers District Council had the second highest recycling rate at 61.5 per cent and 49.2 per cent of their recycling was organics. Vale of White Horse had the third highest recycling rate in England at 60.9 per cent with 54.0 per cent of their recycling tonnage being organic. Each of these authorities has been in the top 5 councils for ‘household waste’ recycling rates in England for the last six years.
- Over the last 5 years, South Oxfordshire District Council and Three Rivers District Council have had an average household recycling rate of 63.0 per cent. Other authorities with a 5 year average recycling rate of over 60 per cent are St Albans City and District Council (62.4 per cent), Vale of the White Horse District Council (62.2 per cent), East riding of Yorkshire Council (61.5 per cent), Surrey Heath Borough Council (60.9 per cent), and East Devon District Council (60.0 per cent).
- In 2022/23, Trafford MBC had the highest proportion of organic/green waste comprising 62.9 per cent of their total recycled ‘household waste’. Their overall ‘household waste’ recycling rate was 58.4 per cent.
- Redditch Borough Council had the lowest proportion of their total recycled ‘household waste’ as organic/green waste at 6.8%. Their overall ‘household waste’ recycling rate was 27.4%.
- Tower Hamlets LB had the lowest ‘household waste’ recycling rate in England in 2022/23 at 17.7 per cent, with 7.8 per cent of the authority’s recycled ‘household waste’ being organic/green waste. The second lowest ‘household waste’ recycling rate was Liverpool City Council (17.9 per cent; 29.2 per cent organic), and the third lowest was Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council (18.0 per cent; 45.5 per cent organic).
6.3 Household Waste Recycling Rates Local authority performance by region (Tables 7 and 8)
Figure 2 in the datasets accompanying this statistical notice shows the geographic distribution of changes in the recycling rates in 2022/23.
Table 7 shows the number and proportion of authorities in each region showing an overall increase in their recycling rate for 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.
- In total 66 (20 per cent) of the 333 local authorities in England showed an increase in their recycling rate in 2022/23. 267authorities (80 per cent) showed a decrease.
- There were no regions authorities where the number of authorities with increases in their recycling rate outnumber those with decreases.
- The highest proportion of increases was in London where 32 per cent of authorities had increases in their recycling rate and 68 per cent had a decrease, next was the West Midlands with 27 per cent of authorities with an increase and 73 per cent with a decrease. This was followed by the North East where 25 per cent of authorities had increases in their recycling rate and 75 per cent had decreases.
Table 7: Recycling rates- Number of local authorities in each region with an increase in 2022/23 shown by percentage point range
| Region | Total number of authorities in region | Number of authorities with a percentage point increase of 0-1 | Number of authorities with a percentage point increase of 1-5 | Number of authorities with a percentage point increase of over 5 | Total authorities with an increase | Percentage of authorities with an increase in their recycling rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 39 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 15% |
| Eastern | 48 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8% |
| London | 37 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 32% |
| North East | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25% |
| North West | 43 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 16% |
| South East | 70 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 23% |
| South West | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 17% |
| West Midlands | 33 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 27% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18% |
| Total | 333 | 35 | 30 | 1 | 66 | 20% |
Download the data for this table
- Table 7 shows that in England in 2022/23, 1 authority had an increase of over 5 percentage points in their recycling rate, 30 (9.0 per cent) increased by between 1 and 5 percentage points and that 35 (11 per cent) authorities had an increase in their recycling rate of less than 1 percentage point.
- The authority with an increase of over 5 percentage points in their recycling rate was Solihull MBC (West Midlands region) which had a 6.3 percentage point increase to give a recycling rate of 41.5%.
- London had 7 authorities (19 per cent of authorities in that region) with an increase of between 1 and 5 percentage points in their recycling rate. This was the most in any region. This was followed by the South East with 6 authorities (9 per cent), East Midlands 4 authorities (10 per cent) and North West 4 authorities (9 per cent)
- The South East had the most (10) authorities with an increase of up to 1 percentage points (14 per cent of authorities in that region), followed by the West Midlands with 5 authorities (15 per cent), and London with 5 authorities (14 per cent).
Table 8 shows the number and proportion of authorities in each region showing an overall decrease in their recycling rate for 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.
Table 8: Recycling rates - Number of local authorities in each region with a decrease in 2022/23 shown by percentage point range
| Region | Total number of authorities in region | Number of authorities with a percentage point decrease of 0-1 | Number of authorities with a percentage point decrease of 1-5 | Number of authorities with a percentage point decrease of over 5 | Total authorities with a decrease | Percentage of authorities with a decrease in their recycling rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 39 | 9 | 24 | 0 | 33 | 85% |
| Eastern | 48 | 7 | 37 | 0 | 44 | 92% |
| London | 37 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 25 | 68% |
| North East | 12 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 75% |
| North West | 43 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 36 | 84% |
| South East | 70 | 14 | 40 | 0 | 54 | 77% |
| South West | 29 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 24 | 83% |
| West Midlands | 33 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 73% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 22 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 82% |
| Total | 333 | 81 | 181 | 5 | 267 | 80% |
Download the data for this table
- Table 8 shows that in England in 2022/23, 5 authorities (2 per cent of the total) had a decrease of over 5 percentage points in their recycling rate, 181 (54 per cent) decreased by between 1 and 5 percentage points and 81 (24 per cent) authorities had a decrease in their recycling rate of less than 1 percentage point.
- There were 5 local authorities with decreases in their recycling rate of over 5 percentage points. The 3 authorities with the largest decreases were Newcastle-upon-Tyne MBC (North East) with a decrease of 11.1 percentage points to give a recycling rate of 25.6%, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (North East) a decrease of 8.0 percentage points to 30.2% and Middlesborough Borough Council with a decrease of 6.7 percentage points to give a recycling rate of 23.1%.
- The North East had 3 authorities with a decrease of over 5 percentage points, while London and the North West each had 1 authority in this group.
- There were 181 authorities with a decrease of between 1 and 5 percentage points. The regions with the most authorities in this group were the South East with 40 authorities (57 per cent of authorities in that region), Eastern region had 37 authorities (77 per cent), East Midlands region with 24 authorities (62 per cent), North West region had 21 authorities (49 per cent), and South West had 17 authorities (59 per cent).
- There were 81 authorities with a decrease of up to 1 percentage points. There were 3 regions each with 14 authorities in this group. These were the West Midlands (42 per cent of the authorities in that region), North West (33 per cent) and South East (20 per cent).
7. Data and Methodology
Including information on data uses, feedback, revisions policy, methodology, glossary of terms and measures, and references. There is an accompanying methodology document for this release.
7.1 Data Uses
Data on waste management is used to monitor policy effectiveness and to support policy development. The underlying data held in WasteDataFlow is also used extensively by local and central government, the waste industry, and the public. Data is reported by all local authorities, often from management information supplied by their waste management contractor.
Factors affecting household waste recycling range from individual household behaviours, the advice and collection services provided by local authorities, the cost of waste treatment and disposal, and to some extent, wider issues such as the state of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some quarterly waste data shows a clear seasonal fluctuation. For example, the generation of garden waste is highly seasonal, increasing sharply and pushing up recycling rates in the spring and summer months. For this reason, comparisons should be made with the same quarter in previous years or using full 12-month periods. However, it should be remembered that in 2020/21 changes between years are obscured by the effects COVID-19, particularly in the period from April to September.
Prior to 2020/21 about 87 per cent of all waste managed by local authorities is ‘waste from households’ with the remainder coming from street cleaning, parks and grounds, business and construction. During 2020/21 this proportion rose to 90 per cent and was 88 per cent in 2021/22. In 2022/23 this proportion remained at 88 per cent. Only a small proportion of the total waste from businesses and construction are covered in these statistics, with most being managed privately.
7.2 Feedback
We welcome feedback on the data from all users, including how and why the data is used. This helps us to understand the value of the statistics to external users. Please take a minute to complete this short survey (this opens in google forms). Alternatively you can email the Waste Statistics team at WasteStatistics@defra.gov.uk
7.3 Revisions Policy
Defra will provide information about any significant revisions made to information published in this statistics release and the associated datasets. Revisions could occur for a variety of reasons, including backdating to reflect methodological improvements or the finalisation of data from third parties that was unavailable or provisional at the time of publishing. Occasionally, local authorities request revisions after this point where it is generally not possible to take the changes into account without risking the delay of publication. These typically do not have a significant impact on the headline figures, particularly at an England level.
The figures in this statistical release were extracted in December 2023 from data reported by local authorities during 2022 and 2023.
7.4 Revisions to these statistics and accompanying datasets
Revisions to ‘waste from household’ measures
There are revisions to the figures shown in Table 1 of this statistical notice, accompanying charts and the dataset “Local authority collected ‘waste from households’ from January 2010 to March 2023”. Table 9 below shows the level of changes.
Residual ‘waste from households’
The methodology used to calculate residual ‘waste from household’ has been revised to include comingled material from the recycling stream reported as going to “treatment unknown”. Complexities in waste treatment, where waste may be mixed with material from different sources, and pass through several facilities can make it difficult for authorities to be certain about the final destination of this waste.
An increase in the tonnage of material reported in this way had produced a widening gap between “Total Waste from households” collected and the sum of recycling and residual waste. The calculation methodology for “Waste from Households” has now been revised to capture this material.
Where the final destination or type of treatment that waste has undergone is unknown, local authorities report this as going to “treatment unknown”. This waste is mostly material rejected from the comingled waste stream, reported as being sent from a sorting facility to an RDF facility, before being sent on to another unknown facility.
This revision to residual ‘waste from household’ does not affect ‘total waste from households’, recycling tonnages or the ‘waste from households’ recycling rate
This methodology change does not affect “household” waste or total local authority waste measures. These revisions affect figures from Oct-Dec 2015 onwards and the table 9 below shows the overall impact per year to the figures presented in Table 1 of this stats notice. The level of revisions to earlier years, financial years and quarterly data can be found in the ‘waste from household’ dataset accompanying this statistical notice.
‘Waste from household’ recycling figures
There are a couple of minor changes within the statistics for 2020 and 2021/22 data resulting from revisions to data for a couple of local authorities – errors spotted in work on residual waste revisions.
- The 2020 figure for dry recycling has increased slightly following correction of a waste source split for 1 authority. This change was not large enough to affect the recycling rate for 2020.
- A revision to recycling figures for Jan – Mar 2022 figures where material types have been corrected have resulted in a small increase in the tonnage of “other organics” and a small decrease in “other materials”.
Table 9: Revision to ‘Waste from Households’ figures (thousand tonnes)
| Waste type | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Recycling of which: | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Dry recycling of which: | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| IBA Metal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Separately collected food waste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other organics recycling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Residual | 9 | 26 | 42 | 77 |
| Total waste from Households | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Waste from households recycling rate (including IBA metal) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Waste from households recycling rate (excluding IBA metal) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Household waste
Changes to 2021 as a result of local authority data revisions. Dataset “Local authority collected waste generation from April 2000 to March 2023 (England and regions) and local authority data April 2020 to March 2023”
Chelmsford City Council
A reporting anomaly in Q100 data meant that some comingled recycling tonnages were being omitted from calculated “household” recycling measures for this authority. The anomaly has been corrected for 2021/22 and results in changes to that authority’s recycling measures, rates and rejects tonnages (Tables 1 and 3 of the datasets). It also results in an increase of 8 thousand tonnes to Household and decrease in non household recycling. (Table 1a and 3a of the datasets). The changes do not affect “Waste from household” measures in this statistical notice or datasets.
Management of Local Authority Collected Waste
Table 3 of this statistical notice and Tables 2 and Table 2a “Table 2: Management of Local Authority Collected Waste, England” of the dataset: “Local authority collected waste generation from April 2000 to March 2023 (England and regions) and local authority data April 2020 to March 2023”.
A methodology change has been made to the calculation of these figures to include recycling collection rejects, which were recently found to be missing from these calculations. This waste is reported principally in questions 10 and 11 (kerbside collections) and 14 and 16 (Waste collected at HWRC) of WasteDataFlow, where for historical reporting reasons (pre-dating the Question 100 reporting structure) instructions tell the user not to include these rejects elsewhere in their data return. Following the introduction of full Q100 reporting for 2015/16 calculations of Total Local authority waste figures are compiled from Q100 waste treatment and disposal data, and a methodological oversight led to omission of these collection rejects from the total. Whilst originally this material was assumed to be sent to landfill, changes in waste treatment mean that this can no longer be assumed to be the case, and for simplicity this material has been included within “Other waste treatments”.
This material has now been included in calculations from 2015/16 onwards and there are revisions to “Total Waste” and “Other waste treatments”. This issue affects relatively few authorities.
The level of revisions to Table 4 of this statistical notice are shown in Table 10. The dataset accompanying this release shows level of revisions by authority and geographical region.
Table 10: Management of Local Authority Collected Waste (thousand tonnes)
| 2022/23 figures | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landfill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Recycled/composted of which:- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Household waste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Non household waste | 0 | 0 | 0 | -8 |
| Total incineration of which:- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incineration with EfW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incineration without EfW1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 3 | 4 | 13 | 6 |
| Total local authority waste managed | 3 | 4 | 13 | 6 |
| Recycled/composted waste as percentage of total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Table 3 and 4a of the datasets - Residual waste kg Households
There are some small changes to these figures for most authorities from 2015/16 to 2021/22. This change has occurred a result of realigning dwelling stock figures with WasteDataFlow financial years.
Historically release times of dwelling stock data and updates to WasteDataFlow website for this information on to the system did not align, meaning that an offset was present in the data between dwelling stock figures and WasteDataFlow data.
In practice, this has meant that since 2007 dwelling stocks figures held in WasteDataFlow for a local authority have been out of sync with WasteDataFlow data and related to the previous financial year. This has been now been corrected on WasteDataFlow from 2015/16 onwards and figures for residual waste kg per household have been revised in this statistical notice and datasets. Changes in figures at authority level are generally fairly small, and at a regional level average out to give a decrease of between 4 and 6 kg per Household. The exception to this is the North West where for 2015/16 to 2017/18 figures for Greater Manchester were incorrect, and this has led to an increase of 19 kg per household for those years in that region. At a National level residual waste per house hold has decreased by 2 kg in 2015/16 to 2017/18, and 5 kg in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2021/22. Due to a previous error in the dataset for the 2020/21 release, there are no revisions to the dataset for that year.
7.5 Covid 19 - The impact of the pandemic on 2020/21 and 21/22
The 12 months from April 2020 to March 2021, were greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 2 national lockdowns and various levels of COVID-19 restrictions on working practices and individuals.
During the first national lockdown which commenced 23rd March 2020, some local authorities were unable to maintain collections of dry recyclates, there was suspension of garden waste collections and widespread closure of HWRC. This was due to staff shortages and the introduction of changes to working practices.
The national lockdown and rules for the operation of some commercial enterprises had a significant impact on the generation of waste during this period.
The period from April to June 2020 saw the biggest impact to waste collections and commercial waste as local authorities and businesses acclimatised to and became used to working under national lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Over the course of 2021/22 waste generation by household sources reduced from the high tonnages seen in 2020/21 but remained above the pre pandemic levels.
Refer to the publications for 2020/21 and 2021/22 for further detail and analysis.
7.6 Methodology
Data from this release comes from a snapshot of the WasteDataFlow database taken in December 2023. WasteDataFlow is a UK-wide system managed by Defra in collaboration with Devolved Administration partners that is used to record the collection, treatment and disposal of local authority waste. First results using this database were produced for 2004/05 with earlier estimates of waste available from the Municipal Waste Management Surveys.
The tonnage of waste ‘sent for reuse, recycling and composting’ is that which is accepted by the re-processor. As such, it excludes any recycling rejects that occur during collection, sorting or further treatment. Waste diverted for recycling from the residual (or ‘black bag waste’) stream by further processing is included in the recycling tonnages.
7.7 Inclusion of Incinerator Bottom Ash Metal (IBA Metal) in ‘Waste from Households’ Recycling
In December 2017, a change in how metal recovered and recycled after incineration of waste (IBA metal) is treated and reported for the ‘waste from households’ dataset only was introduced. The tonnage of IBA metal is now included within recycling rather than being reported as ‘recovery’. The amount varies depending on the amount of residual waste being incinerated and the metal content of the residual waste.
Inclusion of IBA metal has been facilitated through the new Q100 reporting structure for waste treatment, which all local authorities have been using since April 2015 (see below). This has provided the opportunity for more complete recording of waste treatment, including outputs from incineration. Therefore, estimates were produced for 2015, but it was not possible to backdate figures in a consistent manner prior to 2015 due to changes in the question structure and reporting that were introduced from April 2015 through Q100.
The majority of local authorities are reporting this information as fully as they are able to. This methodological change for IBA metal has been applied to the ‘waste from households’ measure only. It has been applied to data from April 2015—it is not possible to apply the change to data before then as the question structure used to report waste treatment was different and, therefore, the reporting of IBA metal was not as consistent or as complete. At an overall England level, this change in methodology raised the recycling rate for 2016 by 0.7 percentage points (equivalent to 143 thousand tonnes). For 2015, the ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was increased by 0.4 percentage points (equivalent to 97 thousand tonnes). This is a slight underestimate for the impact on 2015 as data for January to March 2015 was collected using the old question structure and, as such, did not fully-capture IBA metal for this quarter; estimated to be around 23 thousand tonnes. Overall, this change in methodology results in ‘waste from household’ recycling rates being slightly higher than where IBA metal would previously have been reported as ‘recovery’.
There are no such methodological changes to the dataset for all local authority waste or ‘household waste’ recycling. There are no changes to the household (NI 192) household recycling figures that are reported for England, nor at a regional and individual local authority level where existing methodology and definitions have been retained.
7.8 Question Structure for Treatment and Disposal Questions (Q100)
“Question 100” (Q100) was introduced on a voluntary basis from April 2014, and used by all local authorities in England from April 2015. This question replaced a number of treatment questions.
Q100 provides a more flexible structure that has enabled local authorities to report a more complete and transparent representation of the more complex waste treatment practices that occur, which could not be accurately captured under the old question structure. It also provides the opportunity for local authorities to report, in more detail, the further treatment and disposal of certain waste types such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which would have previously been a final output. This is highly specific to the local authority and the facilities and practices used for treatment and disposal.
7.9 Data Quality Assurance
All local authorities provide data into WasteDataFlow. Several stages of data validation are carried out by the local authority submitting the data, the WasteDataFlow contractor and Defra, with input from the Environment Agency.
The WasteDataFlow contractors check each return for completeness and data consistency against key standardised validation checks. Data is checked against appropriate threshold values specified, which take into account the expected level of variance. There is an online validation process that compares the data for the current quarter against the data for the equivalent quarter in the previous year. For 2020/21 validation check thresholds were adjusted to take account of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was to try and reduce the number of queries raised with local authorities, so that they were not overwhelmed by validation queries as tonnages of different waste streams changed dramatically due to suspended waste collections, increased waste arisings at the kerbside, and large reductions in C&I waste streams.
Once the data has been validated by the contractor, further validation checks are carried out by Defra, who may also refer some to the Environment Agency on any specific data queries raised, particularly related to the appropriate recording of treatment and facility sites. The Defra checks include trend and outlier analysis on key measures at an aggregate and individual local authority level. Details of the validation process carried out by the contractor are available on the WasteDataFlow website.
The introduction of Q100 provided scope for local authorities to report more fully on the treatment and final destination of waste. This is particularly the case for incineration of waste and subsequent outputs and their final treatment and disposal. Gathering such information can be challenging, especially where waste goes through multiple different sorting and treatment processes at different facilities. In most cases, local authorities are able to supply this information, but in some cases full final destination treatment is not given or is stated as ‘unknown’. This may have a small impact on the final figures. Defra will continue to monitor this and work with local authorities to enhance data quality assurance, consistency, and completeness of reporting.
7.10 England recycling target
The Waste (Circular Economy) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 require Waste Management Plans to include measures to be taken to ensure that the preparing for reuse and the recycling of municipal waste is a minimum of 65% by weight by 2035 and to ensure the amount of municipal waste landfilled is reduced to 10% or less of the total amount of municipal waste generated (by weight) by 2035.
8. Glossary of Terms and Measures
‘Waste from Households’
The ‘waste from households’ measure was introduced to statistical publications by Defra in May 2014. It is used to construct a harmonised UK indicator for reporting recycling rates at a UK level on a calendar year basis, providing comparable calculations across each of the four UK countries. ‘Waste from households’ is a narrower version of the ‘household waste’ measure that was used previously. The difference is that ‘waste from households’ excludes local authority collected waste types not considered to have come directly from households, such as street bins, street sweepings, parks and grounds waste, and compost-like output (CLO) from Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants. As explained above under ‘Methodology’ and ‘Data Notes and Development’, we have introduced a change to the ‘waste from households’ recycling calculation to now include metal recovered after incineration (IBA metal). Further information on the calculations and differences between measures has been published on the gov.uk website and is summarised in the table below.
| Recycling (including composting and reuse) | Waste from Households recycling | Household waste recycling |
|---|---|---|
| from households and other premises similar to households, CA sites, Bring banks | Y | Y |
| from street bins | N | Y |
| from household-related parks and grounds | Community skips only | Y |
| from soil | N | Y |
| from rubble and plasterboard | N | N |
| from compost-like output from MBT plant | N | Y |
| from incineration bottom ash (IBA) | N | N |
| from metal recovered and recycled from incinerator bottom ash | Y* | N |
| other, from residual streams | Y | Y |
| recycling rejects | N | N |
| Residual waste | Waste from Households recycling | Household waste recycling |
|---|---|---|
| from regular household collection | Y | Y |
| from civic amenity sites | Y | Y |
| from bulky waste | Y | Y |
| from other household waste | Y | Y |
| from street cleaning/sweeping | N | Y |
| from gully emptying | N | Y |
| from separately collected healthcare waste | N | Y |
| from asbestos waste | N | Y |
Notes
* Revised to include IBA metal in 2017 and applied to data from April 2015.
We have continued to report the ‘household waste’ recycling measure in our annual publication on a financial year basis to maintain continuity with the existing data series and in order to meet the wider needs of users. However it is no longer reported in the quarterly releases on recycling, which will report the ‘waste from households’ measure only. Full data on ‘household waste’ is available and can be downloaded on the gov.uk website.
The local authority recycling rate is based on the NI 192 National Indicator recycling calculation. The National Indicator calculation has been widely used by local authorities for many years for local strategic planning purposes, discussions with contractors and for benchmarking against other authorities and captures a broader scope of household waste than ‘waste from households’, e.g. it includes street sweepings and compost like output. This calculation will be made available as the NI 192 report on the WasteDataFlow portal and also on gov.uk website. This is reported on a financial year basis to meet the needs of local authorities.
9. Recycling rates across the United Kingdom
As detailed above the ‘Waste from households’ recycling rate provides a consistent measure across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and allows reporting at UK level. However it should be noted that other National measures for Household recycling or recycling of all local authority collected waste differ across the devolved administrations. A document detailing these differences can be found here.
10. Useful links
Scottish Government Statistics
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Statistics
11. What you need to know about this release
11.1 Contact details
Responsible statisticians: Alex Clothier
Email: WasteStatistics@defra.gov.uk
Media enquiries: 0330 041 6560 (Defra Press Office)
11.2 Accredited official statistics publication
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in October 2020 . They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ’accredited official statistics.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards using the contact details above. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements :
- Publication of a recycling explainer document, giving background to recycling, the different local authority measures published and how they compare across the UK.
- Improvements have been made to the layout of the waste statistics landing pages.
- User feedback on academic use of these statistics has been sought from Defra Waste & recycling working group.
- Feedback on this Statistical notice and datasets is being gathered by a linked google forms questionnaire.
- Publication of Official Statistics in Development on the carbon impact of ‘waste from households’ managed by local authorities in England.
Work on remaining points made by the OSR will continue in 2024.