MID Devon District Council is now amongst the top 10 per cent of council areas nationally for its waste and recycling.

Mid Devon has achieved a recycling rate of 55.4 per cent for 2022/23, jumping 16 places since 2021/22 and becoming the second-best performing district in the county.

It has not only improved its recycling rate; the amount of residual waste in the district has also reduced by 21kg per person since 2021/22, which puts it 15th out of 210 local authorities in the UK.

The improvements have been made since the introduction of three-weekly waste collections in October 2022, which shows that the scheme is a success.

Since the inception of the scheme, the district’s recycling rate has increased by around five per cent, which is anticipated to be further improved upon in 2023/24.

It says that these results are testament to the huge amount of work undertaken, both in the three-weekly waste trial as well as the transition period to make the new collection scheme work.

Councillor Josh Wright, Cabinet Member for Environment and Services, said: “It is fantastic to see these positive results and the new scheme working well to raise the districts recycling rate. This is vital to supporting the district reduce its carbon footprint and meet its carbon net-zero commitment.

“There is much more that we want to do and we will be looking at options to further increase our recycling over the coming months but I’d like to thank the public for their wholehearted support in helping deliver these successes.”

With the Easter Bank Holiday fast approaching, MDDC asks people to please remember that there will be revised collection days during this period.

The Council has recently introduced email collection reminders - you can sign up to these at: my.middevon.gov.uk so that you never miss a collection day.