The Welsh Government is celebrating success in increasing Wales’ recycling rate by sixty percentage points over the last 20 years, since Wales agreed a devolution deal for a national assembly in 1997.
Wales final recycling figures for 2016/17 show the average combined reuse, recycling and composting rate across Wales’ 22 Local Authorities was 64 per cent, an increase of four percentage points on last year’s final figure and 59 percentage points higher than the rate in 1998/99, when the data was first collected following devolution.
Lesley Griffiths, Wales’ Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, said: “Wales leads the way in the UK when it comes to recycling, with these latest figures confirming we are exceeding our ambitious 58% target. It is also encouraging to see Ceredigion has already met our 2025 target of 70 per cent.
“It is also great to see the amount of waste we are generating continues to fall year on year. This achievement is thanks to Local Authorities and householders’ commitment to recycling. Together, we can continue to make improvements.”
Ian Capper via Geograph CCL