Local Authority league table 2013/14

This article was taken from Issue 79

Local authority league tables 2013/14

Find out more background to these figures in our feature from Resource 79.

Some notes about the data

Inevitably, these figures will be a source of contention, as the compiling of waste data is an exceedingly complex and multifarious activity. Resource welcomes dialogue with any party on how we can improve the accuracy or suitability of the information presented here.

Figures for England and Wales have been taken from WasteDataFlow (WDF). The tonnages we worked with are for household waste arisings and recycling, as reported in National Indicator 192. These include materials collected through bring sites, household waste recycling centres (in the case of UAs and WDAs), as well as recorded rejections from the first MRF that recycling is sent to.

There is still a shortcoming in that the household recycling figures do not discount rejections from secondary and tertiary MRFs, as well as contaminants sent for disposal by reprocessors. Although it is hoped the introduction of Q100 to WDF reporting will provide the opportunity to capture this information, there are still significant obstacles, notably the reporting of contamination in dry recyclables sent for international reprocessing. It remains to be seen whether sampling required by the MF Regulations will provide a reliable way of estimating these figures.