Local authority municipal waste management: April to September 2023

The period April to September 2023 was at the end of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions. However, historical comparisons are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore pre-pandemic comparisons have also been included.

The recycling rate is the percentage of local authority municipal waste that was reused, recycled or composted. The recycling rate has increased considerably during the last two decades (from around 5% in the late 1990s).

Main points (provisional data)

October 2022 to September 2023

• 66.1% of waste was reused/recycled/composted, a slight increase from the year ending September 2022, and is the highest 12 month figure on record. 

April to June 2023

• 68.4% of municipal waste was reused/recycled/composted, a 1 percentage point increase on the equivalent quarter in 2022 and is the highest figure for this quarter on record. 
• 380,068 tonnes of municipal waste were generated, a 2% increase on the same quarter of 2022 and a 5% decrease on the equivalent quarter in 2019. 

July to September 2023

• 67.2% of municipal waste was reused/recycled/composted, a slight increase on the equivalent quarter in 2022, and the third highest figure on record for this quarter.
• 360,984 tonnes of municipal waste were generated, a slight increase on the same quarter of 2022 and a 10% decrease on the equivalent quarter in 2019. 
• These figures are based on provisional data which is published quarterly, with final data for the financial year published annually.

Notes

Data on waste management are collected in order to monitor progress towards national and local targets; in particular against the requirements of the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive. In its current waste strategy ‘Beyond Recycling’ (2021), the Welsh Government set statutory targets of recycling a minimum of 64% of waste by 2019-20, and 70% of waste by 2024-25. 

Data are sourced from the WasteDataFlow system, which is monitored by Natural Resources Wales. Quality information is available in accompanying quality report.