Wales named second best recycling nation

Wales leads the way in the UK and is listed just behind Austria in the global rankings published by Eunomia Research and Consulting and Reloop today (5 June). 

Northern Ireland is ranked 9th, England at 11th and Scotland at 15th among the countries included in the comparison.

The report examined the recycling performance of 48 countries, including the countries that report the highest recycling rates and many of the world’s largest economies.

Climate Change Cabinet Secretary Huw Irranca-Davies said: "In rolling out the successful approach to household recycling to our workplaces, we are also taking action to tackle the climate and nature emergency, while providing important benefits to the economy, by capturing a resilient supply of high-quality recycled materials.

"This is so important for Wales because it means capturing high quality recycling that is fed back into the economy and supports creating jobs, with a high percentage staying in Wales and the wider UK for processing.

"It also helps us tackle the climate and nature emergencies by reducing our carbon emissions and avoiding the need to extract raw materials with the damage they can bring."

AWD Group are a Welsh company who play an important role in the circular economy here in Wales. Their plastic granulation line was grant supported by the Welsh Government’s pilot of the Circular Economy Fund.

Managing Director of AWD Group Ltd, Alun Wyn Davies said they take in 300 tonnes of mixed rigid plastics a week and are proud of the contribution this makes towards Wales' recycling targets.

He added: "Cleaning and processing this material is hard work, but recycling these plastics is important because it would have historically gone to landfill and wouldn't break down for hundreds of thousands of years."