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The 'Waste Composition Analysis' was carried out between October of last year and February of this year and samples of rubbish were collected from the kerbside and household waste recycling centres.

These samples were analysed so that Warwickshire County Council and the district and borough councils could see where their waste services were being effective and where to target any new services in order to increase recycling rates.

When it comes to rubbish going into the bin, the folk of Nuneaton are not letting food go to waste in comparison to those living in Warwick. In Warwick nearly 40% of all waste in the bin is food, often thrown away as out of date, or simply where too much is prepared. This could mean that nearly 12,000 tonnes of food is thrown away each year in Warwick District alone. In Nuneaton this dropped to 28% or 12,300 tonnes a year, and in the rural former mining communities of North Warwickshire only 25% or 5,000 tonnes a year of the waste was food.

Countywide, there are still a lot of recyclable materials being thrown away 20% of waste was paper, six percent was glass, and three percent was metal tins and cans, all of which could go into kerbside boxes. In total this is over 78,000 tonnes a year that could have been recycled but instead was thrown away.

General analysis showed that:

61% of the waste taken to the household waste recycling centres is recyclable and that with the average recycling rate of 53% across the sites analysed, the council is recovering 85% of this waste.

31% of the residual waste stream collected at the kerbside is food waste and 20% is paper

Improvements in the collection methods used, such as collecting food waste, would enable Warwickshire to reach a recycling rate of 42%.

Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Cllr Martin Heatley, said:

?This analysis clearly shows that the recycling rate targets we have set of 60% at the recycling centres and 40 to 45% across the county are stretching but achievable. Warwickshire managed to reach a recycling rate of 30% last year which was a great success, but we can, and need to, do more.?