Facts and figures

Our rubbish is a precious resource and can be recycled or re used into other products instead of just being thrown away!

Did you know…?

On average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks. [source: www.wasteonline.org.uk]

On average, every family in the UK consumes around 330 glass bottles and jars a year. (source: British Glass)

Each UK household produces over 1 tonne of rubbish annually, amounting to about 31 million tonnes for the UK each year, equivalent to 31 million rhinos. [source: Waste Watch]

Every year UK households throw away the equivalent of 3 ½ million double-decker buses (almost 30 million tonnes), a queue of which would stretch from London to Sydney (Australia) and back. [source: www.wasteonline.org.uk]

Every 8 months the UK produces enough waste to fill Lake Windermere (the largest lake in England). [source: Waste Watch]

The UK produces 434 million tonnes of waste each year - enough waste to fill the Royal Albert Hall every two hours. [source: www.esauk.org]

Nearly 3 billion nappies are thrown away in the UK every year. 90% of these end up in landfill, where they could take hundreds of years to decompose. [source: UK Gov]

Rubbish collections and keeping our streets clean costs council tax payers about £1.6 billion per year. [source: UK Gov]

Recycling two plastic bottles saves enough energy to boil enough water for five cups of tea.

1 litre of oil can pollute 1 million litres of fresh drinking water. (source: Scottish Oil Care Campaign)