THE National Assembly for Wales Environment and Sustainability Committee inquiry has found the response of the people of Wales to the challenge of recycling has been outstanding but more needs to be done to hit increasingly demanding targets.

Wales is achieving one of the highest overall recycling rates in the European Union and is the only country in the UK to have introduced statutory targets.

The recycling rate for municipal waste has grown from 10 per cent in 2005 to 54 per cent in 2013/14.

Whilst there is an improvement, nine of the 22 local authorities did not achieve the 52 per cent target for 2012/13 and, according to data from March 2014; three local authorities are yet to achieve this target.

There are 22 different approaches to waste collection in Wales, underpinned by three broad recycling collection methods with no single method offering a clear lead in performance, cost or efficiency and meeting weight-based targets must not detract from efforts to reduce waste.

The committee has made a number of recommendations to improve recycling including commissioning an independent review of the ‘collections blueprint’ and the evidence it is based upon should be completed by end of March 2016, so it can help inform local authorities what approach should be take to achieve a 2019/20 target of 64 per cent.

The full report can be read on the website by visiting www.assembly.wales.