Local Authority league table 2014/15

Some notes about the data 

This is the 13th year that Resource has compiled tables examining local authority waste management performance. As always, the figures we use are the ones submitted by councils through WasteDataFlow, though during this time it has become increasingly difficult to compile the tables directly from reports in this portal.

For this year’s tables, for the first time, we have opted to use the figures published by the individual governments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although these are derived from WasteDataFlow, it is important to note that this opens the process up to variation, as there are differences in how household waste and recycling figures are counted by each.

For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the figures cover the financial year 2014/15, which is the reporting period for each of these countries. For Scotland, they cover the calendar year 2014; the decision taken by SEPA to put its figures out of step with the rest of the UK was taken to put the country in line with the European Community reporting. As a result, it is necessary to present Scotland’s local authorities in a separate table, as inevitably there will be factors influencing waste management performance that will vary over time. As such, it is not possible to include Scotland in the same snapshot as the other UK countries.