Year on year, the UK is solving the question of how to manage its waste sustainably. Recycling rates continue to rise and the amount of residual waste each person produces continues to fall. While there may be a long way to go before the case is closed, we have now uncovered some vital clues about how zero waste can be achieved.

This is the fourth year that Resource has compiled its annual league table of local authority performance based on the amount of residual waste per capita, our preferred indicator of zero waste. In 2011/12 each of us in the UK put 14.5 kilogrammes (kg) less waste material in our black bins than we did the year before. In doing so, we are keeping step with the recent trend since we started to publish this information.

Amateur detectives out there might assume that this material will now be found in the recycling, et cetera, as recycling rates
are still shooting up. Yet initial forensics show that on average each person only recycled 4kg more than in 2010/11. Most of the difference – more than 10kg per person – is because we are generating less waste in the first place. This trend has been going on for over half a decade, and although the economic downturn is undoubtedly playing a role, the signs are that other factors are also at work, such a reductions in packaging.

'We've uncovered vital clues about how zero waste can be achieved'

Those planning residual treatment infrastructure might pause to consider the direction of travel; those developing a waste minimisation strategy will be carefully dusting over the evidence. Closer inspection shows that Wales is leading the way – residual waste is now 230.8kg per capita, discernibly ahead of England. This improvement, backed by a recycling rate that has recently exceeded the psychologically-significant 50 per cent mark, is reward for a government that has been willing to show true ambition as far back as its 2002 strategy, Wise About Waste. Perhaps the most defining aspect of recent progress is that by 2011/12, separate food waste collection is a typical service offered by Welsh local authorities: a feature characterising most of the high performers in our two tables.

It should be noted that total household waste arisings (per capita) are higher in Wales (467.4kg) than England (449.1kg). As is also the case in the other devolved administrations, a larger share of trade waste is collected and consequently counted in with household waste in Wales. However, we can now see a broader point in play when it comes to total waste arisings, namely that urban, more densely populated areas generate less total household waste per person. This strong correlation can partly be put down to co-collection of commercial and household waste in less well serviced rural areas, but probably reflects factors such as people eating out more frequently in urban areas or depositing personal waste in commercial waste streams, such as their place of work.

Turning our investigation to specific local authorities, Oxfordshire County Council leads the way in the UK among unitary authorities (UA) and waste disposal authorities (WDA), with residual waste arisings of 171.8kg per person per annum and a recycling rate just shy of 60 per cent. It’s an impressive achievement for a WDA, and reflects the fact that the county contains many of the leading waste collection authorities (WCAs). These include this year’s leader Vale of White Horse, where residents each generate approximately 100kg of residual waste each year, and last year’s most improved council West Oxfordshire, which increased its recycling rate by 18.8 per cent and reduced residual arisings by 80.6 kilos per person through a service change (see Resource 62).

'Although the economic downturn is playing a role, other factors are also at work'

It comes as no surprise that at the heart of success for these two authorities is an alternate weekly collection of residual waste alongside weekly collection of food waste. Indeed, nine out of the top 10 WCAs run fortnightly collections of waste, while conversely eight of the bottom 10 operate a weekly collection. This is far from a coincidence and the fact that the Department for Communities and Local Government continues to overlook this evidence, instead asking councils to reinstate a weekly residual waste collection while reducing expenditure looks ever more fatuous.

While the case for AWC might be clear, the issue of recycling collection system remains anything but. In 2011/12, it’s notable that those WCAs exceeding 65 per cent recycling, reuse and composting are all co-mingled, but doubts persist over reporting of contamination. In particular, a lack of scrutiny regarding the destination of recyclables needs to be addressed to cement confidence.

This year’s most improved UA is Leicester City Council, where residual waste fell by almost 70kg per person, in the main due to a major increase in the amount of material recycled (up by 55kg). Again, this resulted from a service change, increasing the range of materials collected. However, for the second year running we note the on-going problem regarding the status of ‘compost-like output’ from residual treatment processes, in the case of Leicester this is Biffa’s Ball Mill. In our 2010/11 table we encountered similar questions regarding Bournemouth Council’s sharp reduction in residual waste, which was due to a similar issue – compost-like output from mechanical biological treatment. In 2011/12 Bournemouth amended its figures, removing much of this material from its recycling total. A definitive ruling on how much of this material can count towards recycling figures is still to be reached.

Regardless of how we choose to catalogue waste materials, we have uncovered many important clues about the path towards zero waste, though it will still be some time before this private investigator can say ‘Case Closed’ on the mystery of waste elimination.

UK League Table 2011/12

UK Regional Performance Table 2011/12

Waste Collection Authority Performance Table

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