Lancashire Environment 2002
Waste and Recycling
There has been a 37% increase in the amount of household and commercial waste produced in Lancashire between 1990 and 2000.
That increase has more than cancelled out the increase in re-use, recycling and composting which has risen from 1% in 1990 to 15% in 2000. The amount being landfilled has increased by 19% over the same period.
Additional information is required on the types of rubbish thrown away in the "typical bin", to address how much can be recycled and composted. This information is required to target and measure the success of collection systems and campaigns. A comprehensive waste audit has been established in Lancashire to do this.
What is the role of LCC and other agencies?
Lancashire County Council has co-ordinated the development of the Lancashire Municipal Waste Management Strategy. The Strategy sets a target of cutting waste growth to 1% per year and a recycling and composting recovery rate of 56% by 2015.
Lancashire County Council, the two Unitary Authorities and 12 District Authorities have now adopted this Strategy, which is being used to drive the development of integrated waste management contracts for Lancashire to achieve the targets set.
All Authorities have been set statutory Best Value Performance Indicators for waste recycling and composting, although these are not as ambitious as the recovery targets set in the Strategy.
| Tonnage per year | ||||||
| 1989/1990 | 1990/1991 | 1991/1992 | 1992/1993 | 1993/1994 | 1995/1996 | |
| Total Waste Tonnage | 587575 | - | - | 651145 | 667907 | 659145 |
| Total Waste Landfill Tonnage | 575823 | - | - | 621843 | 607127 | 584002 |
| % Waste Landfilled | 98 | - | - | 98.5 | 90.9 | 88.6 |
| 1996/1997 | 1997/1998 | 1998/1999 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | |
| Total Waste Tonnage | 668893 | 726006 | 730791 | 785994 | 805666 |
| Total Waste Landfill Tonnage | 579261 | 618557 | 625557 | 665737 | 682263 |
| % Waste Landfilled | 86.6 | 85.2 | 85.6 | 84.7 | 84.8 |
Includes data for Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authorities.
| Percentage per year | |||||
| 1989/90 | 1990/1 | 1991/2 | 1993/4 | 1994/5 | |
| Recyclyed | - | - | - | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| Reused | 1 | - | - | 2.0 | 6.1 |
| Composted | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | - | - | - | 4.5 | 9.0 |
| Percentage per year | ||||||
| 1995/6 | 1996/7 | 1997/8 | 1998/9 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | |
| Recycled | 3.2 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 6.0 |
| Reused | 6.4 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.2 |
| Composted | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| Total | 11.4 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 14.4 | 15.3 | 15.2 |
Includes data for Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authorities.