New figures released this week show that nine out of ten households in Somerset are now recycling.
A representative sample of more than 3,000 homes in March this year found that 91% are actively recycling and sorting items into their boxes and Bright Blue Bag. That is up from the 85% when this analysis was last carried out five years ago.
And when it comes to food waste recycling the improvements are even better, with 72% of households recycling compared to 62% in the 2018 survey.
Thanks to the efforts of residents, in 2021-22 an impressive 97.2% of the material collected from Somerset’s kerbsides was recycled in the UK.
Since the 2018 research was carried out, Somerset has successfully introduced its expanded Recycle More collections into the Burnham-On-Sea area which have reduced refuse and driven up recycling.
Councillor Sarah Dyke, Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change, says: “The vast majority of people in Somerset are recycling and that’s something we can all be really proud of this Somerset Day. The jump in food waste recycling is particularly pleasing.”
“We’ve done our best to help people recycle, but at the end of the day it comes down to more people taking the time to do the right thing.”
Somerset’s crews make more than 350,000 collections a week. For more information about what happens to the recycling they collect, check the Somerset Recycling Tracker on the Somerset Council website.
