The United Kingdom has been under fire over the last year because of reports that the country was not fulfilling its obligations when it came to recycling and waste management. The European Union set specific directives for each of its member nations to divert more waste away from landfills and to increase recycling rates. Although the recycling rates in the United Kingdom have improved, the UK remains far behind most of its European counterparts when it comes from keeping waste from landfills. This has led the government to put pressure on local councils to come up with innovative and unique ways to increase the recycling rates of their residents. Councils around the UK have responded by coming up with a range of new ideas aimed at getting their residents to recycle more and waste less in the quest for the UK to become a zero waste nation.
Northumberland seems to have gotten the message, as their recycling rates have improved dramatically over the last six months. Even though recycling rates in Northumberland have gone up by only a marginal amount, the county has drastically reduced the amount of waste it sends to landfills. Northumberland has managed to reduce the amount of landfill waste to just under twelve percent, which is less than one fifth of the amount of last year. This shows that people are paying attention to the changing environmental attitudes that are sweeping the world.
Recycling rates are certainly important but as Northumberland has shown, counties can reduce landfill waste simply by not producing it in the first place.
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