OXFORDSHIRE residents are recycling more rubbish than ever.

More than 60 per cent of the county’s waste was recycled in the past year, which means the county continues to recycle more of its rubbish than the English average.

Paul Mocroft, of Oxfordshire Waste Partnership, said: “It’s super. We have seen a massive increase in the amount of recycling over the last few years.

“We're not very far away from being the top county in terms of recycling.

“I would say the range of materials we're collecting, as well as the fact that we're collecting food, has made a big impact.

Figures on where Oxfordshire ranks nationally are not currently available.

Mr Mocroft said: “We're doing well but it doesn’t mean we are going to sit back.

“We're always looking for new items and materials we can collect for recycling.

“Cherwell District Council has been collecting small electrical items and we're hoping to roll that out across the county very shortly.

“We're also looking at other items, such as batteries.”

Oxfordshire Waste Partnership is made up of Oxfordshire County Council and all five of the district councils which work together to improve waste management services.

Over the past year, 60.14 per cent of Oxfordshire’s waste was recycled – up from 55.12 per cent in the previous 12 months.

On average, England is estimated to recycle only 42.5 per cent of its rubbish, which is up by only one per cent on the previous year.

County councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles, who is chairman of the partnership and county council cabinet member responsible for waste management, said: “Yet again our high recycling rates demonstrate how much waste we’re diverting from landfill.

“We want to remind people that as well as the more regular items like metal, wood, cardboard and textiles, our recycling centres take any electrical items, batteries and even CDs and DVDs for recycling.

“With landfill tax increasing to £64 per tonne and overall costs around £90 per tonne, there’s an even bigger incentive to stop burying our rubbish in holes in the ground.

“We all know that recycling is good for the environment, but it also saves the county council money too.”

  • For more information about Oxfordshire Waste Partnership and how to recycle, click on the link.