Surrey residents are tied for second place nationwide in recycling

Surrey has been awarded the title of the joint second-best recycler in England, making it one of the top counties for recycling throughout the UK. Go team!

A 2022-23 report revealed that 54% of waste thrown away in Surrey was transformed into something completely new, whether it was clothing, energy, fertiliser or new packaging – a great stat when you consider the average in England to be 41.7%.

The report also highlighted that Surrey was going in the right direction on not just one but two other key measures that assessed the performance of waste:

• Surrey residents were found to throw away less rubbish, with each household reducing it by 5.3%.
• The proportion of total waste that went to landfills dropped to 4.4%, a dramatic shift that now highlights that 95.6% of all Surrey’s waste was successfully repurposed once collected.
• The proportion of Surrey’s waste, which wasn’t recycled or landfilled was turned into energy (36.7% of waste).

With the new findings, SEP Chair, Cllr Marisa Heath, said:

“The new report is great news for Surrey, not just for the impact that residents’ waste is having on the environment, but also for the finances of the county’s councils. This is because fewer resources are used to create new products, which reduces emissions and helps climate change. It is also a benefit as it’s cheaper for councils to process less waste and recycle it rather than turn it into energy or send it to landfill; money could be spent elsewhere.”

To top off the news

Further good news was revealed that 89% of Surrey’s waste was actually processed in the UK. 83% of recycling and 98% of rubbish stayed in the UK—and the more this happens, the better, as fewer emissions are used in transporting materials abroad.

It wasn’t all good news, though

The report contained a few words of warning. However, it was shown that the county was experiencing too much contamination. Contamination in the rubbish removal world occurs when too many items that cannot be recycled are found in recycling trucks. This means the whole truckload (including legitimate recyclable material) is rejected for recycling. Did you know that?

So, while it’s good that Surrey residents are, on the whole, producing less waste, there is room for improvement. To help the country climb the waste league tables even more, we must continue to reduce what we throw away, recycle more of what we use, and ensure that the right items find their way into the correct bins. There are lots of online resources available to help with that:

• Rethink waste: Free scheme to reduce what you throw away while earning points to donate to charities and schools or enter prize draws.
• Take it one step further and begin recycling your food waste instead of throwing it away. Ask your local council for one if you don’t have a food bin.
• Use the Surrey Recycles search tool and app. Type in your postcode and item, and it will tell you the best way to dispose of it where you live.
• Read this post to ensure you’re using the correct bin every time.