Truro best for recycling in Cornwall Council statistics after Recycle Week

This is despite the town being among the first in the county to be able to recycle almost all plastics.

It comes as Cornwall Council reveals the recycling statistics for all parts of the county, and while Helston may only manage a quarter of its waste, this is on a par with the average figure for Cornwall.

Truro, Grampound, Probus and the Roseland area are the county’s best recyclers, where households recycle around 30 per cent of their rubbish.

At the other end of the scale, the China Clay area near St Austell is the worst for recycling, managing to convert just 15 per cent of its rubbish, closely followed by St Austell and Mevagissey, and St Blazey, Fowey and Loswithiel, both at 17 per cent, and Camborne, Pool and Redruth at 18 per cent.

The council released the figures at the end of Recycle Week, which aimed to highlight the importance of recycling as much waste as possible.

The average household in Cornwall throws away 500kg of rubbish every year, but a survey of the waste revealed that around 25 per cent of material put out for collection could have been recycled - with the possibility of, for example, old aluminium cans being turned into anything from foil trays to aeroplanes.

Meanwhile, a national survey released this week found that just four in ten people say they are confident they put their recycling in the right bins – down six per cent since the last time the survey was carried out last year.

Councillor Sue James, Cornwall Council's portfolio holder for environment and public protection, said the survey reinforced many people are confused about what can be recycled, highlighting the need for more public information.

She said: “This week we’ve launched a social media campaign to help residents understand what can be recycled, what happens to their waste, and the impact this has on the environment. For example, lots of people don’t know you can recycle things like shampoo bottles, or that you don’t need to remove labels from jars.

“Across most areas of Cornwall, you can now recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays - things like yogurt pots and bottle tops. This is something which many residents said they wanted.

“While most of us do our bit to recycle what we can, certain items around the house are somehow missing the recycling container and recycling just a few more items can make a big difference.”

Items that can be recycled include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tin foil, glass bottles, and – for the majority of areas – most plastic pots, tubs and trays (except black plastic).

Community Network Area       Average Reycling Rate

Truro and Roseland                    30.27%

St Agnes and Perranporth          29.06%

Wadebridge and Padstow           28.90%

Bude                                            28.49%

Caradon                                       27.59%

Cornwall Gateway                      26.96%

Falmouth and Penryn                 26.75%

Helston and South Kerrier         25.40%

Liskeard and Looe                     25.21%

Launceston                                 24.84%

Camelford                                   24.30%

Bodmin                                       24.18%

West Penwith                              22.63%

Newquay and St Columb           22.43%

Hayle and St Ives                      22.02%

Camborne, Pool & Redruth        18.31%

St Austell and Mevagissey         17.42%

St Blazey, Fowey and Lostwithiel  17.02%

China Clay                                    15.03%