Recycling Result
East Cambridgeshire have found themselves third on the list of the highest increase in recycling performance across the English councils in the last year.
The Department of Environment statistics from the Food and Rural Affairs show that in 2012-2013 East Cambridgeshire was ranked a mere 257th out of 320 councils who are responsible for waste collections. East Cambs recycling level at this position were just 33.37%.
However, during the 2013-2014 period, East Cambridgeshire turned over a new leaf and shot up to 116th place with an incredible increase of more than 12% recycling rate. The new and improve recycling rate for East Cambs is a whopping 45.48%! This is all thanks to a new service that was introduced half way through the year.
The only districts to beat East Cambs were Ashford Borough who rose by an amazing 30% and Aylesbury Vale who gained 13.25%. Early estimations for the 2014-2105 period suggest that East Cambridgeshire’s recycling rate will be in excess of 54% and it is hoped they will break into the top 50 best recyclers across England next year.
The boost in performance is down to the District Council placing a successful bid for £5 million from the Government to fund a new recycling service which collected weekly.
Councillor Kevin Ellis said: “Since the introduction of the wheeled bin service in the Autumn of 2013, we have seen our recycling rates increase dramatically”. Ellis also said that it has been encouraging to see how the efforts of the residents and the hard working staff at the council have made a real difference. He believes that East Cambs reaching their goal of top 50 best recyclers would be a fitting accolade to reflect the enthusiasm with which the wheelie bin service has received.
The current top recycling council in England for the 2013-2014 period is South Oxfordshire District Council who have a recorded rate of 65.71%.