South Oxon and Vale residents are top for recycling (From Herald Series)
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South Oxon and Vale residents are top for recycling
9:20am Tuesday 13th November 2012 in Wantage/Grove
RESIDENTS in southern Oxfordshire are the best recyclers in England, according to the latest Government figures.
The Vale of White Horse is top of the table with a recycling rate of 68.7 per cent, closely followed in second place by South Oxfordshire with a rate of 67.9 per cent. Both districts are now ahead of last year’s lead authority, Rochford in Essex, which recycles 67.4 per cent of its rubbish.
Reg Waite, cabinet member for waste at the Vale, said: “Our service is designed to make it as easy as possible, but without the hard work of everybody at home, we couldn’t have achieved this remarkable accolade.” West Oxfordshire District Council came eighth with 61.2 per cent, Cherwell District Council came 21st with 57.3 per cent, and Oxford City Council was 146th with 44.4 per cent, according to the figures from Defra.
mytaxes says...
10:32am Tue 13 Nov 12
Despite putting pressure on households to recycle more, successive governments have failed to ensure more materials are processed at home.
As a consequence, around 70 per cent of plastics for recycling is sent to the Far East. However, with a growing middle class of its own producing waste, China is no longer willing to accept the low-grade plastic sent from the UK, which has been “contaminated” by other materials.
So far this year 17 containers, containing 420 tons of plastic, have been turned back on their way to Asia, according to the Environment Agency. Much of the recycling is from local authorities that collect “co-mingled” materials, so plastic is mixed in with paper, glass and metal in one bag.