NEW figures have revealed that residents in Cheshire East are among the best in the country at recycling their waste.

Research conducted by Envirofone has revealed that the borough has the sixth-best recycling rate in England.

According to the most recent figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), 84,948 tonnes of household waste was not recycled in 2016-17 – equal to 44.8 per cent of all household waste in the year.

Cheshire East Council is thanking residents for their efforts – but insists the hard work continues to get even more residents recycling their waste.

A CEC spokesman said: “Cheshire East Council is the sixth best performing unitary authority – at 55.2 per cent – for recycling rates during 2016-17.

“This figure is set to further improve with the introduction of the food waste recycling scheme by autumn 2019.

“Our waste reduction team has been working closely with dozens of primary schools across Cheshire East with the junior recycling officers’ scheme – we engage with around 4,000 pupils per term.

“We believe many children across the borough are now green ambassadors and have helped us to achieve these impressive recycling rates.

“We would like to thank residents for their continued support with recycling.”

CEC is set to open a new food waste recycling centre in Crewe next year.

According to Envirofone, East Riding of Yorkshire had the best recycling rate for 2016-17 at 65 per cent of all waste, while Westminster had the worst – with just 17 per cent of waste being recycled.

Denise Timmis, head of online at Envirofone, added: “We hope our research helps to spread awareness of how much of our waste is currently not being recycled and encourages people to take extra measures to ensure we’re able to increase the amount of recycled waste here in the UK.”