The UK produces more waste than it can process at home: 230m tonnes a year – about 1.1kg per person per day. So what happens to it?
45.7% of all UK household waste is classed as recycled, although that number indicates only the waste that is sent for recycling, not where it ends up. Detailed end-destination figures for our own area (Charnwood) are not available, but in 2017/18 Westminster council sent 82% of all their household waste (including household recycling) for incineration . Some councils have debated giving up recycling altogether.
From councils burning the lot to foreign landfill sites overflowing with contaminated British rubbish, this article from the Guardian reports on a global waste crisis.
