The household waste recycling rate in Wales continues to increase and has marked its highest recorded level. The average combined reuse, recycling and composting rate across Wales’ 22 local authorities stood at 60 per cent in 2015/16, an increase of 4 percentage points on last year’s figure, according to provisional government data released on Wednesday.
It is also 2 percentage points higher than the country's new statutory recycling target of 58 per cent, according to the Welsh government. Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths welcomed the figures: "It’s clear that local authorities and householders are working hard to recycle and we are well on the way to achieving our 70 per cent recycling target set for 2025. I am proud that we lead the rest of the UK in our recycling rate but I want us to do even better and become Europe’s best recycling nation."