Graham Stuart MP congratulates East Riding residents and council for leading country in recycling

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, visited the Willerby waste depot to congratulate East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) for its award as the country’s number one recycler. In attendance were Paul Bellotti, the council’s Director of Communities and Environment, and members of the Waste and Recycling team.

The prestigious MJ Achievement Awards are a way of recognising the work of exceptional local authority teams and encouraging all councils to strive to be the best. For the second year running, the Waste and Recycling Team at ERYC has achieved the highest recycling rate of any council in the country. Where the national average is 45%, ERYC recycled, reused and composted 65% of all household rubbish.

Graham commented: “I’m absolutely delighted that the team at ERYC won the national award for Best Council Services due to their outstanding record on recycling. The team ran successful campaigns to increase recycling, the bin collection crews were singled out for excellent service, and the recycling figures speak for themselves. Compared to 2005, when only 24% of total waste was recycled, there has been an amazing transformation. This is a remarkable achievement, and I’d like to pay tribute to the people of East Riding as it couldn’t have been done without them.

“It’s clear that as a country we’re getting greener and our region is leading the way. Indeed, our record on recycling is only one part of this story. I recently met representatives from Ørsted to discuss the company’s next steps in transforming the East Riding into the world-leading wind-energy hub. When complete, Ørsted’s Hornsea One and Two will be the world’s largest offshore windfarms. It’s encouraging that industry and communities in the East Riding are working together to tackle environmental challenges, and I will continue to do all I can to support them.”