Thanks to the efforts of considerate residents in Atherstone and across Warwickshire, the amount of waste being recycled in the county is on the up.

Between April and December last year, an additional 3,024 tonnes of recyclable waste was collected from homes in Warwickshire – an increase of 7% on the same period the previous year – resulting in a total of 46,217 tonnes of recyclable materials, thanks to residents in Atherstone and the rest of the county separating even more of their rubbish.

Warwickshire is just below the national average when it comes to the amount of rubbish that is sent to incineration plants. Approximately 10% of recycling in Warwickshire is sent to incineration plants, compared to a reported national average of about 11%.

And this 10% is only the contamination that cannot actually be recycled.

Latest figures also show that Warwickshire households have reduced their overall waste in the past year. Although the number of households in the county is increasing year on year, the amount of overall waste per household has dropped from 1014kg in 2018/19 to 993kg in 2019/20 and is predicted to drop further to 991kg per household for 2020/21.

The results are better than expected given that many residents have been staying at home, and therefore generating more waste at home, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures are a testament to the fact that Warwickshire residents are taking their environmental responsibility seriously and reducing the waste that they create.

Reducing waste while recycling more continues to be one of the best and easiest ways for Warwickshire households to reduce their impact on the environment.

There is still more that householders can all do and Warwickshire County Council is appealing to residents to check their local council's guidelines to make sure they are not adding items to their recycling that cannot be collected from their kerbside.

The wrong items in the recycling bin, such as excessive food residue, plastic film, polystyrene and nappies, leads to around 10% of the waste sent for recycling being rejected. This reject material is safely disposed of.

There are as many ways to reduce waste as there are towns and villages in the county. For more facts and tips on making less waste and recycling more, search 'Warwickshire Recycles' for daily social media posts.

Councillor Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council's Portfolio Holder for Environment and Heritage and Culture, said: "I am delighted to see that our eco-conscious residents have defied the odds and actually reduced their overall waste again this year, despite us all being in lockdown for a lot of the time.

"I am also thankful to see that we all continue to get better at separating our recycling and making sure that this packaging can become new raw material for new products.

"Reducing waste not only saves your own household money, it also reduces the council's spend on waste disposal, meaning that money can be better spent on other important services.

"Protecting the environment is at the forefront of our minds and we can all reduce our climate impact through savvy shopping to reduce waste and through making sure we recycle everything we can."