A total of 23.6 million tonnes of household waste was collected in England in 2009-10, of which 39.7 per cent was recycled, composted or reused. This has increased from 36.7 per cent in 2008-09 and from 8 per cent in 1997-8.

Why is this important – The EU Waste Framework Directive requires the UK to recycle, compost or reuse 50 per cent of waste from households by 2020.

• Household green recycling (composting) has increased from 1.6 per cent in 1997-8 to 15.7 per cent in 2009-10, whilst recycling of other household materials (dry recycling) has increased from 6.6 per cent to 24 per cent over the same period.
• In 1997-98 only 20 per cent of recycled household waste consisted of green recycling, but by 2009-10 this figure had doubled to 40 per cent

Data download

The key facts publication contains a downloadable version of this page
WasteDataFlow
Government policy on waste and recycling
Household waste statistics in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland