Recycling rate of household waste in England 2010-2020

The recycling rate of household waste in England was 44 percent in 2020, down from 45.5 percent in 2019. This decrease was a result of waste service disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been progress over the past decade, recycling rates in England have slowed in recent years.

Local authority barriers

One issue with the amount of recycling that can be done in England is that not all local authorities collect the same materials. While 100 percent of local authorities collect plastic bottles, not all collect plastic pots and trays, while very few collect plastic film. As a result, the recycling rate of plastic in England is far lower than other household waste materials, such as paper and card.

Plastic waste exports

  Another issue facing the UK recycling industry is that it lacks the capacity to recycle all of its plastic waste domestically. Therefore, huge volumes of plastic waste are exported for recycling each year. These volumes are typically larger than plastic waste that is reprocessed in the UK. Despite this, these shipments still count towards UK recycling rate targets.