Dramatic drop in recycling blamed on the pandemic
CITY RATE DROPS BY 7.2% IN YEAR – INTO BOTTOM 100 AUTHORITIES
A council has blamed Covid-19 and local lockdowns for its “dramatic drop” in recycling rates over the last year.
A report by green packaging company Priory Direct named Leicester City Council as the one of the bottom 100 local authority areas for recycling.
It said 35.7 per cent of household waste was recycled or composted between April 2020 and March 2021, placing Leicester 245th out of 338 councils.
A council spokesman said: “Our recycling rate saw a dramatic drop of 7.2 per cent, on the previous year, from 42.9 per cent to 35.7 per cent.
“The pandemic and Leicester’s extended lockdown were undoubtedly contributing factors.
“As people stayed at home, we saw a rise of 9 per cent in the amount of binned waste collected.
“We also saw significant changes in the types and variety of waste that people deposited into their bins.
“Recycling rates were also impacted by the forced closure of the city’s two recycling centres.”
The council said rates are expected to return to normal as the country comes out of the pandemic.
Priory Direct found a slight drop in the national average recycling rate last year, from 43.8 per cent to 42.3 per cent.
It said: “Environmental commitments continue to be brandished around but it doesn’t install much confidence when the national average for recycling was down, with the decrease being blamed, like many things, on the impact of the pandemic. We’re not sure how that adds up.
“With no penalties if you fail to meet the target, and no extra funds for those councils that are falling behind, there’s no pressure and no accountability, so you end up with some local authorities taking it very seriously and some which have different priorities and consequently let it slide down their to-do list.”
In Leicestershire, Harborough District Council came out on top, ranking 111th with a 46.9 per cent recycling rate. This was down from 47.3 per cent in 2019/2020.
Blaby, Hinckley and Bosworth and Oadby and Wigston councils all saw their percentages increase this year, by 1.8 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.