GWYNEDD is playing its part in the battle against climate change by recycling more than half of its household waste, well above the England and Wales average.

Of all of the rubbish that households throw out, 55 per cent gets recycled, with the rest either incinerated and the ash used to produce energy or dumped into landfill.

This is much higher than some local authorities, with Newham in east London only recycling 14 per cent of its household waste, and above the average for England and Wales which is 44.3 per cent.

The local authority is above the government’s household waste recycling target of 50 per cent by 2020, set by the EU.

The latest figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that in the 12 months to the end of March 2017 Gwynedd cleared away a whopping 75,312 tonnes of rubbish, with 77 per cent of that household waste. Of the 31,783 tonnes from homes that were recycled or reused, 56 per cent was dry recycling and the rest was compost.

See this week’s north papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now