ONS figures have revealed that Worcester is within the bottom quarter percentile for recycling rates for the whole country. 

In recent years, about 37 per cent of Worcester households' waste has been recycled. 

The most recent data available shows it has dropped to 35 per cent despite Worcester City Council pledging in the Environmental Suitability Strategy for 2020 to 2030 to increase the percentage of waste which is recycled. 

A spokesperson for Worcester City Council said: "Our recycling figures have remained at around the 36 per cent mark for several years now, with just slight fluctuations each year.

"We do everything we can to encourage residents to recycle more, with ongoing social media campaigns and city council communications direct to the public."

Information on what can and cannot be recycled in Worcester can be found here. 

Phillipa Gilfillan, owner of Pack It In - Zero Waste Living, a supermarket that aims to make a zero-waste lifestyle more accessible, said: "The council need to educate people better about what should and shouldn't be recycled."

Ms Gilfillan put forward an alternative view on tackling the issue of recycling.

She said: "We need to be putting less stuff in our recycling bins, so much that we put in simply cannot be recycled, we must start thinking of alternatives."

The council pointed towards the private rental sector as one of the main causes of this drop in recycling saying: "We have a higher proportion of transient households and as recycling rules vary from area to area, this can impact residents recycling behaviour."

Worcester's recent drop in recycling rates sees it fall in line with the likes of Leeds City Council and Merseyside District Council. 

Worcester City Council said it is committed to improving resource efficiency by:

  • Eliminating single use plastics and promote reusables
  • Increasing the percentage of waste which is recycled
  • Reducing the total volume of kerbside waste/recycling
  • Driving down waste generated during events in the city and from Council operations
  • Encouraging residents to rethink food waste

Worcester City Council has the lowest rates in the county, with Worcestershire County Council, Malvern and Wychavon District Councils all coming in above the national average.