Powys tops the recycling charts

Powys County Council has received a prestigious award after becoming the leading carbon-saving council in all of England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The council received the Local Authority Recycling Carbon Index Trophy from Eunomia after it topped the carbon index league for achieving a carbon saving of 130kg per person in 2015/16.

Eunomia’s index calculates the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that are prevented as a result of local residents’ recycling efforts.

Recycling saves greenhouse gas emissions because it avoids waste being sent to rot in landfill or burned in an incinerator – and because it reduces the need for energy-intensive extraction of raw materials.

The council also showed the biggest year-on-year improvement, according to the index, jumping from 103kg of carbon saved per person in 2014/15 to 130kg in the last financial year.

Accepting the trophy on behalf of the council, Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, said: “To be the leading recycling carbon-saving council in all of England, Northern Ireland and Wales is a great achievement. 

“We’re very proud of what local residents have helped us achieve and I would like to thank them for their efforts in getting us to the top spot, we couldn’t have done it without them.

“The result shows that the effort that residents and our staff make to separate waste at source really pays dividends when it comes to producing carbon savings.”