North East Lincolnshire Council boasts of zero landfill waste in September

Less than 5% of household waste is usually sent to landfill North East Lincolnshire Council says

A local authority is boasting of zero household waste being sent to landfill in September.

Household waste collected by North East Lincolnshire Council is either recycled, burned to generate electricity or sent to landfill.

The council said "September was the first month ever" it had not sent any waste to landfill.

It thanked residents for helping the authority to increase recycling rates from 35.08% in 2020 to 39.14% in 2021.

Some household waste is taken to the Energy from Waste Plant where the rubbish is burned to generate electricity

Less than 5% of household waste is usually sent to landfill and only if it cannot be recycled or incinerated at the Energy from Waste Plant near Stallingborough, the council says.

Until last year mattresses were among the items being sent to landfill, but "now they are taken to be recycled by a company in York", a spokesperson said.

The authority said residents were "recycling much more" since the introduction of new wheelie bins in 2020, which display instructions on how items can be recycled.

More than 5,500 households use bins to recycle food waste every week compared to 4,680 in April 2020 when the council launched a pilot scheme, a spokesperson said.

The current recycling rate is 39.37% and the council said it set a 55% target for 2025.

Recycling rates have "increased greatly since 2017/18 when they were 31.8%", the council says

Councillor Stewart Swinburn said: "It's fantastic to see more and more people in North East Lincolnshire are recycling.

"Recycling is an easy way to help the environment and prolong the lives of materials such as aluminium, plastics and paper.

"By sorting recycling at home, households are creating a much better-quality product for reprocessing."