WALES remains streets ahead of the other UK nations in the amount of waste households sent to be recycled, according to latest figures.

UK Statistics on Waste, published by Defra, show that Welsh homes recycled 54.8 per cent of their waste in 2014.

This compares to 44.8 per cent in England, 43.6 per cent in Northern Ireland and 41 per cent in Scotland.

In the four years since this data has been collected by Defra, Welsh homes have improved their household recycling rate from 44 per cent (2010) to nearly 55 per cent (2014), which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than the UK average of 44.9 per cent.

Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant said: “Wales is the only UK nation­ to set statutory recycling targets and our approach is clearly paying dividends as we lead the way in the UK.

“Welsh local authorities are already meeting the European target of recycling a minimum of 50 per cent by 2020.

“It is important that we continue to recycle­ in the right way to get the economic and environmental benefits that we want to achieve for Wales.”

Towards Zero Waste, Wales’ overarching strategy for waste, sets out how people will manage waste in Wales to produce benefits not only for the environment, but also for the economy and social wellbeing.

The strategy outlines the actions Weslh residents must take if the country is to reach its ambition of becoming a high recycl­ing nation by 2025 and a zerowaste nation by 2050.