East Riding residents recycled and composted 55 per cent of their waste in May compared with 46 per cent in May of last year.
The figures released by East Riding of Yorkshire Council show that the biggest increase is in the amount of waste collected from the brown bins.
Much of this waste was due to the roll out of the collection of food waste and cardboard in the brown bins in the Beverley, Bridlington, Driffield,
Haltemprice and Holderness areas.
The roll out of the collection of food waste and cardboard in the brown bins completes this week, a week ahead of schedule. The final areas to be included in the new collection are Pocklington and Goole.
Councillor Symon Fraser, portfolio holder for environment, housing and planning, said: “This is a remarkable achievement by our residents, to have recycled nearly 10 per cent more than this time last year. It is the highest monthly recycling rate we have ever achieved and we expect to do even better over the summer months.
“The most significant figure is the 3,620 tonnes of material collected for composting from the brown bins, compared with the 3,180 tonnes in May last year. Even better is that the waste being put into the brown bin is of good quality as residents heed the call not to use plastic carrier bags.”
Anyone wanting to check what can be put in the brown bin should visit the council’s waste site, www.target45plus.org.uk The monthly recycling figure is based on the waste collected from the wheelie bins, the 10 household waste recycling sites and the 140 bring recycling sites across the East Riding.
The 55 per cent figure is the percentage of the collected waste that has been recycled and composted, keeping it out of landfill, saving taxpayers the increasing costs of landfill tax and protecting the environment.