PEOPLE in Cambridgeshire have an excellent record of recycling. Latest figures show that 45 per cent of household waste is recycled each year, compared to the national average of 23 per cent. Each year, individual households send an average of 363kg of r

PEOPLE in Cambridgeshire have an excellent record of recycling. Latest figures show that 45 per cent of household waste is recycled each year, compared to the national average of 23 per cent.

Each year, individual households send an average of 363kg of rubbish to landfill sites and council waste officers believe that at least 50 per cent of waste could be recycled.

Cambridge and Peterborough Waste Partnership ran an analysis of waste produced by residents, between November 2004 and May 2005, and found that food waste was the highest component of Cambridgeshire's bins, 215kgs per household each year. This is despite the collection service run by the district and city councils, along with garden waste, residents can put out meat (cooked and raw), dairy products, vegetable and fruit peelings, tea bags and mouldy food. People are also being encouraged to recycle more paper and glass.

Cambridgeshire County Council waste policy manager, Mark Shelton said: "We have been acknowledged as the top recycling shire county in the UK so it's clear that the people of Cambridgeshire are keen recyclers. However, the results of our compositional analysis showed that there's still work to do to reduce the waste needlessly buried in the ground."

Last year the county council spent £7.3 million dumping waste in landfills. This cost is set to rise with landfill tax increasing by £3 per tone per year for the next five years at least. Government legislation could lead to fines if too much waste is sent to landfill.