England’s recycling rate has risen slightly from 43.2 in March 2012 to 43.3 percent, according to provisional quarterly statistics on local authority collected waste.
Defra also announced that as of May this year the calculation of household recycling will exclude gulley emptying and street sweepings as well as other waste that is not coming directly from households, in order to bring it into line with the definition of household waste in the revised waste framework directive.
Other statistics show that the quarterly household waste recycling rate reached 46.2 percent in England between April and June 2013, the highest rate achieved for an April to June period.
Household waste arisings remained unchanged at 22.7m tonnes in the 12 months to June 2013. Previously household waste arisings fell steadily by 10 percent throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Local authority managed waste going to landfill or incineration was 1.3 percent higher in April to June 2013 compared to the same period in 2012 but is 32 percent lower than in the same period in 2006.
Regional statistics are now produced only once a year following the announcement to do so was made last year. The latest regional estimates cover the period April 2012 to March 2013 and were published in November 2013.
Defra also intends to show annual estimates for calendar years rather than financial years. This is planned for August 2014 when it intends to publish calendar year estimates of waste up to and including 2013.