Rochford District Council tops Defra recycling league

A district in Essex has the highest recycling rate in England, according to figures published by Defra.

Rochford District Council sent 66% of domestic waste for recycling between April 2010 and March 2011, compared with the national average of 41.2%.

People in the district have three bins, with weekly waste food and fortnightly recycling collections.

Conservative councillor Michael Steptoe said: "The key is keeping things as simple as you possibly can."

He praised the residents of the district for their efforts in sorting their waste, and its collection and processing teams.

'Big difference'

Last year the council was placed third in the national league table, with 61% of its rubbish recycled.

Mr Steptoe, portfolio holder to the environment and recycling, said it hoped to continue the upward trend in future years.

He cited the possible future recycling of items such as nappies, as an area where gains could be made.

He said: "There is talk of a plant being started somewhere in the UK that will be able to process those.

"If we can take those out of our landfill stream it would make a big difference."

Other councils in the county to have recycled more than half of their waste were Epping (59%), Uttlesford (55%), Braintree (54%), Harlow (52%). Essex County Council reached 50%.

Nationally, the percentage of waste being sent for recycling, reuse or composting rose from 39.7% the previous year.