The Local Council Report / WasteDataFlow / Household recycling rate (%) · markdown view

Household recycling rate (%)

percent · extracted · council-year

This is the share of household waste — everything from your bins, boxes and tip visits — that gets reused, recycled or composted rather than burned or buried. It is the best-known measure of how green a council's waste service is, with about a decade of history to track progress. A high percentage means most waste is being turned back into something useful; a low one means most of it ends up as residual waste headed for incineration or landfill.

councils
314
median
41.85
q1
34.52
q3
48.2
min
17
max
63.9

Distribution

21.6361.09

Worst 10

CouncilClassValueIn its class
Tower Hamlets LBlondon171st worst of 33
Liverpool City Councilmetropolitan17.91st worst of 36
Birmingham City Councilmetropolitan20.32nd worst of 36
Middlesbrough Borough Councilunitary21.51st worst of 62
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsealondon22.52nd worst of 33
Dartford Borough Councildistrict23.71st worst of 161
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Councilunitary24.22nd worst of 62
Westminster City Councillondon24.43rd worst of 33
Hackney LBlondon24.74th worst of 33
Gosport Borough Councildistrict25.12nd worst of 161

Best 10

CouncilClassValueIn its class
Stratford-on-Avon District Councildistrict63.91st best of 161
Milton Keynes Councilunitary63.21st best of 62
South Oxfordshire District Councildistrict61.32nd best of 161
Three Rivers District Councildistrict61.13rd best of 161
East Riding of Yorkshire Councilunitary612nd best of 62
East Devon District Councildistrict60.14th best of 161
Dorset Councilunitary59.93rd best of 62
North Somerset Councilunitary59.64th best of 62
Stockport MBCmetropolitan59.51st best of 36
St Albans City and District Councildistrict59.15th best of 161

Definition

namehousehold_recycling_rate_pct
dataset12-wastedataflow
kindextracted
typenumeric
unitpercent
graincouncil-year
roleoutcome
sourceLA_and_Regional_Spreadsheet_2024-25.ods, sheet Table_3, column 'Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting (Ex NI192)'
period2014-15 to 2024-25
missingnessTable_3 has gaps for some years/authorities (residual_share_pct serves as a cross-check); collection vs disposal authority differences affect comparability.
score_noteThe standard ex-NI192 outcome measure with a decade of history; the dataset's strongest variable.
calculated../calculated/household-recycling-rate-pct.csv
calculated_rows5144
calculated_periods2010-11 to 2024-25
calculated_date2026-08-13
peer_groupdistricts (n=206), unitaries (n=65), metropolitan boroughs (n=36), London boroughs (n=33), counties (n=27) — scored within each class against its median/IQR

The headline household recycling rate (ex-NI192): percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting. It is the standard performance measure for waste diversion and the main outcome most waste comparisons target. Compare within authority type where possible.