Not bad, could do better – the report is out...

Our recycling rates dropped slightly to 54%, but so did the weight of rubbish we each produced, at 450kg per household.  Surrey is 2nd in the national recycling tables, falling to 7th place in the waste tables; Mole Valley sits pretty much in the middle of the within-county tables.

These and many more statistics are taken from the Surrey Environment Partnership’s well illustrated report, Recycling inSurrey 2022 - 2023, published in mid-May 2024. You can also find some interesting videos on their website, showing what happens to the materials collected each week, including your food waste.    
 
Confirming what was learned by those visiting our local Materials Recovery Facility (you can read Ed Winter’s report here), the report states that only 4% of the non-recyclable rubbish ended up in landfill with the bulk being converted to energy. 
 
17% of Mole Valley’s recycling is shipped overseas, which seemed appalling until our guide explained that was mostly paper waste going to mills in Indonesia to be converted into packaging materials. “The UK mills already produce all the cardboard needed here.  But more is always needed in the Far East, to protect all those goods we buy from China and Taiwan”.   How come then Reigate & Banstead only ship 3% overseas?