In 2006-07 local authority collected waste comprised 18 per cent food waste.

Why is this important  – The EU Landfill Directive requires biodegradable municipal waste* (BMW) sent to landfill in England to be reduced to 75 per cent  of the 1995 figure by 2010, 50 per cent by 2013 and 35 per cent 2020.

Note:  This data is from the Defra report Municipal Waste Composition: A Review of Municipal Waste Component Analyses, not from WasteDataFlow.  Therefore the figures should not be compared.

• In 2006-07, the largest components of local authority collected waste in England were paper and card at 23 per cent (6.4 million tonnes),  food waste at 18 per cent (5 million tonnes) and garden and other organic waste at 16 per cent (4.4 million tonnes).
• Food waste and garden and other organic waste together made up 34 per cent of the total local authority collected waste in 2006-07.
• According to the report, 67 percent of local authority collected waste is biodegradable.

*The Consultation on meeting EU Landfill Diversion Targets includes details on the revised definition of municipal waste in Chapter 3.

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