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This is the third successive year that Resource has compiled its league table of local authority (LA) performance based on the amount of residual waste per person in each area. Although we recognise the critical role of recycling, etc, it’s the amount of material left for disposal that reflects our progress towards zero waste and captures attempts to minimise waste. In a world of finite resources; the long-term logic is that we cannot keep discarding material. And for the third year running, we continue to see a significant reduction in the amount of residual waste. In 2010/11, the UK average was 269.2 kilogrammes (kg) per capita, down from 284kg the previous year. At a time that the UK (temporarily) emerged from recession, the total amount of waste generated per person also still fell from 467.5kg to 456.3kg, while predictably recycling continued to increase.

Perhaps controversially, we still choose to count energy from waste as residual. While obtaining energy might be better than nothing in the short term, again in the longer term, we believe the loss of material is largely incompatible with sustainability. No doubt many in this industry will argue with this and we recognise there are pros as well as cons. It will continue to be one of the hotly contested issues throughout this decade.

Breaking down performance, there are some notable successes that deserve closer scrutiny. First and foremost, at a national level, the average improvement of councils in Wales is miles ahead of everywhere else. For the first time since we began ranking according to residual arising, Wales is ahead of England, 262 and 264 kg per capita respectively, with Northern Ireland (304kg) and Scotland (315.5kg) a little way back. However, it is the level of improvement in Wales that really catches the eye, where residual waste per capita has fallen by over 30kg in a single year, more than double that of any other country.

Analysing the data, it is clear that investment in the separate weekly collection of kitchen waste, coupled with alternate weekly collection (AWC) of general waste, makes the key difference. Even before the launch of Towards Zero Waste in June 2010, the Welsh Government put in place strategic funding for councils to institute kitchen waste collections. This ambition and investment contrasts with the tune emerging from Defra: less ambitious targets and prima facie endorsement for weekly rubbish collection.

While the governments in both Scotland and Northern Ireland have now shown support for higher levels of diversion than England, in 2010/11 there were no countrywide programmes to compare with that in Wales. That said, it should be noted Belfast, following the introduction of a food waste service and AWC to many households, was the most improved capital city last year, substantially increasing the amount recycled (up by 3,125 tonnes) while at the same time reducing the total arising of household waste (down by 3,529 tonnes).

As well as leading the way in terms of residual waste, Wales recycled more household waste than any other country, almost 44 per cent, overtaking England (41.2 per cent). We expect the gap will continue to widen in coming years. Despite this trend, it still remains the case that at an individual local authority level many English councils continue to set the pace, with several exceeding 60 per cent recycling, headed by Rochford District Council recycling 65.8 per cent.

While many of these top performing recycling councils run commingled schemes, we still have reservations about the accounting method and reporting of reject data. The underlying concern is that material moved on from the first materials recovery facility (MRF) it arrives at, to another MRF or to export markets, all counts in local authority recycling statistics, regardless of whether it all turns out to be recycled. The current reporting system cannot handle material contamination passed down the line and all key participants are disincentivised to report later rejects.

Turning to our key criteria, residual waste per capita, it is notable that four councils in our UK league table dip under 200kg for the year. Last year only Dumfries & Galloway was credited with doing this, but this year notably it is the only council not to be included in our league table. This is because government statisticians have not signed off Dumfries & Galloway’s figures – we believe because questions remain about whether land restoration with output material from mechanical biological treatment (MBT) counts as recycling. Ironically, this is also the likely differentiating reason why Bournemouth Borough Council tops this year’s UK table.The council showing the biggest improvement from last year was Bridgend, which recorded a residual reduction of 101.7kg. It epitomises the improvement across Wales.

In 2009/10, 34 waste collection authorities (WCAs) dipped below 200kg residual per person; in 2010/11, the number achieving this rose to 55. Topping the list is the affluent commuter-belt district of Surrey Heath, where incredibly, the average amount of general waste per resident is 116kg per year. The council was a winner at this year’s National Recycling Awards.

Despite this, residual waste per capita fell less in English WCAs than in unitary authorities (in England as well as elsewhere in the UK). So while no one should doubt that the escalating landfill tax is having its desired effect, here we have the first hint that it might not be as effective for two-tier authorities. It’s unlikely that Defra will try to unpick this increasingly bizarre structure, but evidence shows that closer binding of WCAs and waste disposal authorities in partnerships is a likely trend.

We might not all be singing from the same hymn sheet, but no one should argue that most UK councils are hitting the right notes.