Neath Port Talbot residents thanked for recycling success

Neath Port Talbot residents have been thanked for helping the county borough achieve a large increase in its recycling rate helping Wales maintain its position as one the world’s top recycling nations.

New figures released by the Welsh Government show Wales’s recycling rate increased as a whole to 65.4% in 2020/21, a new record high.

The data covers April 2020 to March 2021 during which 13 of the 22 councils in Wales reported an increase in their recycling rates compared to the previous year.

Neath Port Talbot’s recycling rate jumped from 61.7% to 67% and Neath Port Talbot is now the seventh best council in Wales when it comes to recycling.

A total of 1.47 million tonnes of local authority municipal waste was generated in the April 2020 to March 2021 period – a 2.6% fall from the previous year and the “lowest reported figure to date”.

The recycling rate is the percentage of local authority municipal waste that was reused, recycled, or composted. Data is sourced from WasteDataFlow, which is monitored by Natural Resources Wales.

Under current regulations, the present recycling target set by Welsh Government is a minimum of 64%, increasing to 70% by 2024/25.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Engineering, Cllr Mike Harvey, said: ”On behalf of the council I’d like to thank our residents for their recycling efforts which have allowed Neath Port Talbot to record a big increase in its recycling

rates.

“It also helps Wales retain its place among the top recycling nations in the world which is something we can all be proud of. While the improvement in our performance is something to be proud of, we need to work together to further increase our recycling rates, so we can continue to achieve the ambitious future recycling targets set by the Welsh Government ”

Wales’s Minister for climate change, Julie James, said: “Our recycling statistics are world class thanks to a Team Wales effort. They show what we can achieve when government, business and the third sector work together towards a common goal.”