Rutland ranks second for recycling in the East Midlands

The county council sent 59.1 per cent of household waste for recycling, composting or reuse between April 2014 and March 2015. This equated to 11,665 tonnes out of a total of 19,734. This is well above the 50 per cent target set by the European Union for the UK to meet by 2020.

First in the list of 40 authorities was South Northamptonshire District Council, with 59.9 per cent, and third was Harborough District Council, with 57.5 per cent.

South Kesteven District Council was 14th, recycling 47.6 per cent of waste. This was 931,053 tonnes recycled out of a total of 2,061,357. The figure ranks South Kesteven above North Kesteven, at 47.3 per cent, Melton Borough Council, at 46.6 per cent, and East Northamptonshire District Council, at 44.7 per cent. Nationally, 43.7 per cent was recycled.

An South Kesteven District Council spokesman said: “We are striving to reach the 50 per cent target whilst nationally recycling rates are decreasing. We consistently educate residents to recycle more where possible and correctly through our clean and green features with the local press, quarterly SKtoday magazine and schools recycling campaigns.

“We also educate directly when collecting, notifying residents if their bins or bags contains items that are not appropriate for our recycling or residual waste collections.”