The UK recycled almost two-thirds of all its packaging last year, according to the latest figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency.

In all, British businesses helped recover more than seven million tonnes of packaging waste, of which 6.6 million tonnes were recycled. The effort helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 8.9 million tonnes, according to Defra.

“This is a really significant achievement and shows that we are making good progress on packaging recycling,” said Environment Minister Jane Kennedy. “Businesses which handle packaging have a vital role to play in reducing the amount of waste we’re sending to landfill and I’m pleased to see they’re doing their bit.”

Environment Agency Chief Executive Paul Leinster added, “The level of carbon saving — equivalent to the amount of CO2 generated by around one-and-a-half million UK homes each year — shows why it’s important for all of us to keep on recycling. Last year was the best year yet for the amount of packaging waste recycled.”

The EU’s 2008 target for recycling was 55 per cent, while its goal for packaging recovery was 60 per cent. The UK met or exceeded all the specific targets, according to Defra, recycling 79.8 per cent of paper (target: 60 per cent), 61.3 per cent of glass (target: 60 per cent), 56.9 per cent of metal (target: 50 per cent), 23.7 per cent of plastic (target: 22.5 per cent) and 78.5 per cent of wood (target: 15 per cent).

Tags: recycling