The latest figures from Defra show that across the UK we are now, on average, recycling more than 40 per cent of our rubbish.

The figure was taken for the 12 months up to June 2010 and represents a 0.4 per cent rise in recycling.

Environment minister, Lord Henley commented: “We’re producing less waste and recycling more than ever before, with people across the country working hard to make this happen.”

The government is due to release a review on how we deal with household waste in the spring.