Wigan named as top plastic recycling town in UK

Wigan has been named as the top plastic recycling town in the UK, following a recent survey.
Wigan Council recycling depot, InceWigan Council recycling depot, Ince
Wigan Council recycling depot, Ince

Cosmetics giant, The Body Shop, has revealed that 9,000 tons of plastic were sent for recycling between 2017 and 2018.

The borough was listed as the top town or city by a long way, recycling almost double that of Swansea, the next closest area, where residents recycled 4,982 tons last year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental concerns of our generation, and the UK has made huge progress with 602,493 tonnes of plastic recycled between 2017 and 2018.

Coun Carl Sweeney, cabinet member for environment at Wigan Council said: “We would like to thank residents for supporting The Deal by recycling more, recycling right.

“Thanks to local people separating their waste successfully, we are all doing our bit to protect our environment and helping the council to save on landfill costs, which helps us to keep our council tax one of the lowest in Greater Manchester.

“Since the introduction of the three weekly black bin collections the borough’s recycling rate has increased from 42 per cent to 53 per cent which is bucking the recycling trend across the country.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“In total, the council will save £2m a year moving to a three weekly collection, which can be invested in frontline services and for services accessed by the borough’s most vulnerable residents.”

A YouGov survey highlighted that 46 per cent of British residents feel guilty about the amount of plastic they use and 82 per cent of the surveyed are actively trying to reduce the amount they throw away.

The Body Shop, which has introduced several initiatives to reduce its plastic use, was interested to see the positive impact of people’s current plastic recycling efforts across the UK.

The information was compiled by analysing the amount of plastic sent for recycling from every town and city in the UK between 2017 and 20182 and cross referencing this with the population to create a plastic recycling index.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Wales leads the UK with the most towns and cities making the top 20 list and two (Bridgend and Swansea) making the top three.

In total the Welsh sent 43,877 tonnes of plastic for recycling between 2017-2018 which weighs 3.5 times more than the Severn Bridge.

Residents can check their collection dates any time by visiting www.wigan.gov.uk/recycling