Mike Hedges welcomes news that confirms Wales as the 3rd best country In the World for Recycling

Mike said…’this is good news for Wales – to be ranked the 3^rd best country in the world is a great achievement and will provide an incentive to improve the recycling rates still further so we can try for the World Number 1 slot. I urge people to try to increase their recycling as every bit helps the environment and assists in the battle against climate change. It is good to see Swansea Council increase its recycling rate to 63%; again I urge the citizens of Swansea to do their bit and recycle just a little more each week – it all helps!’

In the 20 years since Wales said yes to Devolution, our recycling rate has increased from just under 5% to 64% – the third best in the world.

The final recycling figures for 2016/17 show the average combined reuse, recycling and composting rate across Wales’ 22 Local Authorities was 64%, an increase of 4 percentage points on last year’s final figure and 59 percentage points higher than the rate in 1998/99, when the data was first collected following devolution. It is also 6 percentage points higher then the current Statutory Recycling Target of 58%.
Welcoming the statistics, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said:

Further figures released today  show the amount of biodegradable waste Local Authorities are sending to landfill has reduced by 89% since the first full year of the scheme in 2005-06.

Reducing the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill helps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, preventing the production and release of methane into the air from landfill sites.