Councils hit back over recycling-to-landfill allegations

The Local Government Association (LGA) has hit back at reports suggesting it is " secretly" sending tens of thousands of tons of material that is collected for recycling to landfill sites, insisting that only a fraction of collected material ends up at the tip.

According to a Telegraph report today, figures released in response to a recent parliamentary question show that 240,000 tons of domestic paper, glass and plastic waste is either dumped or burned after being collected for recycling. It also warned that with only half of local authorities responding to the survey into recycling success rates, the problem could be far greater.

Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary who submitted the parliamentary question, said that the data "undermines confidence" in the government's recycling strategy.

However, a spokesman for the LGA insisted that the figures underlined the success of local councils' recycling strategies, adding that the figures had come from Defra and not, as reported, the LGA.

"If you consider the number of people putting out rubbish for recycling, 240,000 tonnes is just a fraction of what we collect," he said. " Obviously, it is not a perfect picture right across the country, but these figures demonstrate good progress in understanding of what they can put out to be recycled."

He added that it was inevitable there would be some waste put out for recycling that had to be sent to landfill because it was contaminated and not suitable for recycling processes.

A spokeswoman for Defra agreed that where collected recycling was being sent to landfill it was due to waste being contaminated, adding that local councils were tackling the issue by better educating people on how best to dispose of recyclable material.