By Gemma Childe on 3rd Jul 2012
Wales has beaten England when it comes to recycling public waste, according to government figures.
Welsh councils recycled 48 per cent of municipal rubbish over the last financial year, and could pass the 50 per cent mark during the summer.
England recycled just over 41 per cent of household waste last year, and therefore needs to work harder to meet the EU mandated target of recycling, composting or reusing half of all household waste by 2020.
The figure for Wales represents a four per cent rise on the previous year, but a slight drop on the 49 per cent rate recorded for July to September 2011. The country also now generates less waste, falling from 65 kilograms per person in January to March last year to 56 kilograms per person in the same period this year.
Wales places limits on biodegradable materials that can be sent to landfill and every Welsh council also offers weekly food waste collections.
However, the Welsh environment minister John Griffiths said there was still some work to do to achieve the government's ambitious Towards Zero Waste strategy, which aims to recycle or re-use all waste by 2050.
"The key thing now is that we continue to build on our recycling success so that we can meet our challenging targets of 70 per cent recycling by 2025 and zero waste by 2050," he said.
"I am very hopeful that this summer will see us breaking the 50 per cent barrier."