The volume of dry household waste recycled by English councils has fallen.
Official data showed that 5.4 million tonnes of such material was collected by local authorities in 2023.
This was down 2 per cent from the prior year, according to the government statistics.
Meanwhile food waste recycling rose, as did recovery of other organic material.
Total recycling hit 9.5m tonnes in 2023, up 2 per cent from the previous period.
And the overall recycling rate from waste generated by English homes rose marginally to 43 per cent.
Environment secretary Steve Reed last week warned that global supply-chain shocks over the past five years showed the UK could “no longer rely on importing 80 per cent of raw materials from abroad”.
“We must embrace circular, local supply chains to reduce our exposure to global shocks and prevent us running out of critical resources,” he added.
