Wales poised to lead European recycling race
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - 10:14:09
A new report from Statistics for Wales has suggested that the country could overtake all others in Europe when it comes to domestic recycling rates, according to BBC News.
In the past year, 60.2 per cent of all waste produced in Wales was sent for recycling. By comparison, back in 2006 this figure was under 30 per cent.
Lesley Griffiths, the current Welsh Environment Secretary, said that if Wales was considered as a separate nation it would currently be Europe’s fourth biggest recycler and could well take first place if current trends continue.
She went on to point out that the government had set a target to recycle 58 per cent of waste, which Wales has managed to exceed this year.
By 2020 the goal is to hit a recycling rate of 64 per cent, before going on to reach 70 per cent by the middle of the decade. And Welsh politicians have been pushing hard to instigate these goals and make sure that they are achieved.
Campaigners argue that while this is good news, there is still a need to ensure that the momentum that the recycling movement has gathered in Wales can be maintained in the coming years. Recycling growth has tailed off across the rest of the UK and there are fears that unless ongoing action is taken, the same could happen in Wales.
Growing public enthusiasm for recycling of all kinds, including household waste, mobile phones and electronics, has helped the industry to increase in size, year on year. And Griffiths said that while public funding was clearly important, it was not the only thing which was required to ensure the long term success of such schemes.
Nineteen of the 22 local authorities across Wales were able to meet or exceed the 58 per cent recycling rate target, with the rest coming very close.
Latest News
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - 10:32:41
Every industry around the world has been impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and recycling has been especially affected as a result of force [...]
Read More
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - 21:33:36
Apple has pulled back the curtains on the all-new iPhone SE, bringing with it a raft of eco-friendly design features which aim to improve the green cr [...]
Read More
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 21:32:00
Researchers from New Zealand have demonstrated a new recycling solution which could help companies to reclaim rare materials from smartphones, PCs and [...]
Read More