Key Facts - 2009/10

• Household recycling and composting rate in England increased to 39.7% in 2009/10 from 37.6% in 2008/9
• Total municipal waste to landfill decreased by 9.4% from 2008/9 to 12.5 million tonnes 
• The generation of household waste continued to decrease between 2008/9 to 2009/10, with a 2.7% reduction to 23.7 million tonnes in 2009/10. Household waste generation has been decreasing annually since 2006/7
• The weight of household waste generated in 2009/10 in England, in kilograms per household, was 1036 kg per household. 411 kg of that was recycled, composted or reused whilst 625 kg was not. 
• There continues to be variations in household recycling, composting and reuse rates between different regions, with regional recycling rates ranging from 31.8% in London to 46.1% in the East region.
• The proportion of municipal waste  sent to landfill also varies by region; from the West Midlands with 28.5% of their municipal waste  going to landfill,  to the North West with at 59.2%.

For more information and to access Defra’s latest waste statistical releases visit:  www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/environment/waste/ 

Waste Data Flow

WasteDataFlow (WDF) is the web based system for municipal waste data reporting by UK local authorities to government. It was developed to replace the various and often repetitive waste questionnaires issued to local authorities. WDF has replaced the Defra Municipal Waste Management Survey in England and similar surveys in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Questions are completed quarterly by local authorities and the data are made available to the public once this information has been validated by the WasteDataFlow team and the Environment Agency.

For more information and to access reports showing individual local authority data for all UK authorities visit www.wastedataflow.org and register for public access.