Three Rivers District Council is the highest performing authority in England for household recycling, reuse and composting, government figures have revealed.

Data published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) shows the council recorded a rate of 64.1 per cent for the amount of household waste recycled, composted, or reused in 2019/20.

This is an improvement of 1.1 per cent compared to 2018/19, taking Three Rivers to the top of the league table.

Cllr Phil Williams, lead member for environmental services and sustainability, said the council’s success was the result of its waste collection crews and staff working to ensure bins are collected, avoiding contamination, and ensuring residents have the knowledge to recycle everything they can.

He said: “We are incredibly proud of our record as the top recycling authority in the whole of England. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our residents who continue to reuse, compost, and recycle.

“Awareness is really growing among our residents of plastic waste, food waste, consumption, and their impact on the planet. People understand that waste prevention, as well as reusing, and recycling is more important than ever.

“Recycling means materials can be used for longer, and reduces the amount of waste going to incineration or landfill, while composting garden and food waste also helps generate clean energy and fertiliser for local fields while reducing methane released in landfill."

He added: “As a council we declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, and have recently consulted with residents and stakeholders on our new Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy which is currently going through approval.

"The strategy sets out aims and objectives to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 for council operations, and 2045 for the district.”

A further initiative run by the council to encourage recycling and reuse is a free home textiles collection service.

For more information on what to recycle, how to recycle, and reducing waste you can visit Three Rivers Council's website here or the Hertfordshire-wide waste aware page here.