Aug 10 2018
Research from home interiors specialists at www.Hillarys.co.uk shows that the UK recycles just 45% of its waste, a considerable amount less than in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany who are known to recycle around 60% of their waste.
What’s more, the UK sends, on average, 18 million tonnes of waste to landfill each year, with each person throwing away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.
The research was done as part of an ongoing study into people’s home recycling and energy saving habits across the UK. Off the back of the research, the team have created five infographics highlighting (https://www.hillarys.co.uk/recycling-infographic/) the overall figures for the UK as a whole, as well as drilling down into England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, residents living in Mid Scotland & Fife are known to be the most environmentally friendly, recycling up to 55.15% of their household waste, followed by Lothian (51.26%) and Central (48.46%).
Those living in England came slightly lower than the top three in Scotland, with residents in the East of England recycling on average 47% of their household waste. They were followed by those living in the South West (46.95%) and the West Midlands (44.5%).
Residents in Northern Ireland were slightly lower than the UK average too, with those in the North Eastern region most environmentally conscious, recycling up to 44.5%, followed by the South Eastern region (43.33%) and the Southern region (42.65%).
Those living in Wales didn’t quite match up to the rest of the UK, with those in Mid Wales recycling on average 40.15%. They were followed by the South West (38.36%) and the South East (36.06%).
The infographics also highlight key figures around plastic production and household waste.
Tara Hall, spokesperson for www.Hillarys.co.uk, said:
“The findings from this research are certainly interesting, and seeing these facts presented visually really helps us to understand our impact on the environment.”