Waste management may sound like a bit of a rubbish topic, but there’s actually a lot of interesting facts and figures around the subject. We’ve put together a few of our favourite, most eye-opening facts about waste below.
The UK’s Average Household Recycling Rate
The average amount of waste that is recycled from households was only 44.6% in 2021. Given that the team at Greenacres Skip Hire manage to recycle 90% of the waste we manage, we find this figure pretty shocking! This should be easy to improve, if everyone does their bit and separates their waste for recycling properly. In Wales, the figure is 56.5%, so we’re actually doing better than the rest of the UK!
UK Packaging Waste
In the same year as above, 63.2% of the UK’s packaging waste was recycled. This is a healthier looking number, but there’s still room for improvement. As well as everyone doing their bit by separating their waste for recycling, companies also have a responsibility to produce packaging that is easily recycled and made from responsible materials.
Municipal Waste To Landfill
Municipal waste is household waste and any other waste that’s similar in nature. For example, retail and hospitality waste. In 2021, 14,003 tonnes of waste was sent to landfill. 6,761 tonnes of that waste was biodegradable, which means it was food waste, green waste, cardboard or paper. These things break down and release greenhouse gas emissions, so ideally we want to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste at landfill. To help reduce this figure, ensure that your food waste, green waste and paper waste is disposed of separately to the general bins where possible.
How Much Waste You Produce
The average UK person produced 413kg of waste in 2021. That results in over a kilogram of waste every single day. It’s all well and good to reuse and recycle, but if we can reduce the amount of waste we produce in the first place, that’s even better. Think twice before making purchases that include unnecessary packaging. Invest in a reusable cup for coffees and bring your own carrier bags to the shop. These small changes can all contribute to a reduction in the amount of waste you produce.
Recycle With Greenacres Skip Hire
Ensuring all the waste you produce is handled responsibly can help make some of these facts look a little brighter.
