Councillors in Mid Devon have welcomed the news the district has seen a steady increase in recycling over the past year, with Mid Devon now the second-best performing district in the county.

Since its implementation in October 2022, the Council’s three-weekly collection scheme, Bin It 123, has seen improvements to the district’s recycling rates and a reduction in residual waste, both helping the Council move towards its net-zero carbon goal.

This good news is thanks to the efforts made by residents who have complied with the new scheme and increased the amount of waste they now recycle.

Since the roll-out of three-weekly collections, households have reduced the amount of residual waste needing to be collected by 1,165 tonnes over a ten-month period. This equates to an annual reduction per household from an average 364.5 kg of residual waste collected in 2021/22, down to 327 kg/household in 2022/23, and is currently forecast to be around 315 kg/household in 2023/24.

In turn the recycling rate has risen by almost 2%.

Cllr Josh Wright, Cabinet Member for Environment and Services, said:

“Our Mid Devon residents have been fantastic since we made these changes and it is thanks to them that our district is now one of the best performing councils in the county with a recycling rate of just over 55%. We are also one of the few councils in the country to see an increase to our recycling rate over the past year, with many areas remaining at a static and low rate. We want to say thank you to our communities for the positive contribution they have made to the Council’s objective to reduce its carbon footprint and meet our carbon net-zero commitment and I am looking forward to even more improvements in the future.”

Statistically the Christmas period sees a drop in recycling rates, in part due to the busy lives people lead and confusion over which Christmas materials can be recycled.

At Mid Devon we hope to continue the trend of improving recycling rates throughout the year and are keen to remind residents what they can recycle this festive period.

This year anyone in Mid Devon can recycle their real Christmas trees if they leave them out with their food or garden waste for collection (The trees must have a maximum trunk of 100mm).

The crews are also asking residents to continue to recycle any excess food over Christmas and sort out their recycling boxes, which helps crews enormously.

You can also leave out small electrical items which may have been replaced by new ones over Christmas and remember to flatten any cardboard boxes to maximise space in your recycling.

Cllr Wright added:

“We have lots of advice and reminders about what you can recycle, and how, on our website. Thank you all for doing your bit to make Mid Devon a special place this Christmas. Merry Christmas and thank you.”

If you have a question you want answered about Bin-It 123 please visit the Council’s website, contact us via email at bin-it123@middevon.gov.uk, or give us a call on 01884 255 255.