The more residual waste capacity households have, the less they are likely to recycle, a WRAP study has found.
Its research, Analysis of recycling performance and waste arisings in the UK 2012/13 also found that local authorities with food waste collections are likely to have higher recycling rates.
WRAP head of resource management Linda Crichton said: “Recycling rates vary throughout the UK just as they do in other countries, and the reasons for this are complex.
“They can be within the control of an authority, or contextual factors, such as demographics, that are beyond the authority’s control.
“Being able to quantify the degree to which each impact on recycling is hugely important for an authority, and this report will help make that possible.”
The study found that there was little difference in recycling rates whatever the dry recycling scheme in operation such as commingled, two-stream or multi-stream.
