Recycling – Statistics and Attitudes

1. Last month the Green Party released results of a report on recycling rates across the country. 6070 people were asked about what proportion of their household waste they recycled - with only 3% saying they 'never recycle'.

33% of people 'always recycle everything they can', 44% recycle 'most things', and 15% 'sometimes recycle things'. Of those living in London, 36% said they would recycle everything.

2. A study for City & Guilds, the UK's leading vocational body awarding work-related qualifications, has revealed that nearly half of UK households would recycle more if they had a better understanding of what could and could not be recycled.

City & Guilds has launched a new qualification that will give recycling staff the necessary skills and competencies they need to improve customer care and safety, and to help them keep abreast of changes within one of Britain's fastest growing sectors.

Other findings: More women than men (42% against 31%) recycle at least 40% of their waste. People over fifty are the most environmentally friendly with more than a quarter recycling 60% or more of their waste, compared to 9% of 18-30 year olds. And 60 million Britons currently throw away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.

3. This week another survey, by the British Marketing Research Bureau, revealed that more than half (58%) of those questioned thought that householders who don't recycle their rubbish should be fined. Most thought that fines of up to £50 would be acceptable.

59% felt they should not have to pay councils for having their waste collected. However, Paul Sanderson, editor of Materials Recycling Week, who commissioned the survey, warned that people could face charges for waste collection in the future. He said, "Variable charging for waste collections is one solution which is set to become a hot topic in the UK. It is already quite common in Europe, and was introduced in the Republic of Ireland about 18 months ago.

"Basically it means that people who do not recycle would be charged for all of the remaining waste they generate, which could mean a significant extra charge for many people. Fining people who don't recycle is another way of meeting these costs and improving recycling rates."

September 2006