Become a BusinessGreen member

'Still in the doldrums': UK recycling rate creeps above 45 per cent

23 February 2018 • 6 min read

Slight year-on-year uptick in household recycling welcomed by industry, but green groups highlight 'packaging waste mountain' revealed by latest Defra figures

The amount of household waste sent for recycling across the whole of the UK crept up above 45 per cent for the first time in 2016, setting a new record. But meeting binding EU targets for 2020 remains...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

Already a BusinessGreen member?

How GM, Mars and Timberland are cultivating smallholder farmers

Coal India report finds renewables will 'substantially decrease' coal demand

Author spotlight

Michael Holder

Environmental journalist and editor

View profile

More from Michael Holder

Certain Energy raises £10m to scale up long-duration flow battery storage technology

COP31 President 'encouraged by growing momentum' ahead of Antalya Summit

More on Waste

Waste

From pledge to real progress: Achieving No.10's food redistribution goal

The government should support industry progress already being made on food waste rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, writes the Food and Drink Federation's Natalie Verner, co-chair of the UK Food and Drink Pact Redistribution Working Group

Natalie Verner, Food and Drink Federation

24 August 2026 • 4 min read