Latest data published by Stats Wales confirms Wales as one of the top recycling countries in the world and that Powys County Council residents are certainly playing their part as the county records a recycling rate of 63.05%.

Despite a fantastic effort on all fronts, the county’s official recycling rate does fall ever so slightly short of the Welsh Government target of 64% by just under one percent. However, Powys figures show that the actual recycling rate for the county, despite a very difficult end to the 2019-20 year, is just over 64%. Unfortunately, a clerical reporting error went unnoticed and was sent across to Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Government for verification before being rectified.

“Over the past decade, recycling in Powys has soared from a recycling rate of 36.5% in 2010” explains Cllr Heulwen Hulme, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling.

“The Welsh Government target of a 64% recycling rate across the country has been challenging, but as a result of some hard work and the commitment of our residents, it has been achieved, albeit not officially verified.”

“We’ve always known that Powys residents are good recyclers who take great pride in doing their bit for the environment and these latest figures confirm that the counties households are doing a great job.

“We understand how difficult things are at present for many of our residents and we are grateful for their continuous recycling efforts and their support of our crews whilst they work hard to maintain these critical services and protect our communities at this time. Thank you.”

The Wales-wide recycling targets are set out in the current Welsh Government waste strategy ‘Towards Zero Waste’, which charts a path to zero waste by 2050. Together the council and residents will be increasing efforts to meet the next target in 2024-25, when we need to recycle, reuse or compost 70% of our waste.