Dorset's recycling rate hit a record high last year, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Dorset Council officers point out that the pandemic had a large part to do with the increase.

For 2020/21, the data shows that the amount of waste that Dorset Council sent for recycling, reuse or composting had risen from 58.9 per cent to 60.1 per cent.

Out of 330 councils nationwide, this places Dorset Council as the eighth best performing council in England and the third top performing unitary council.

Waste service officers have pointed out that much of the rise is due to an increased waste capture rate - how much recyclable material is going into recycling bins - due to the pandemic lockdowns. More people at home resulted in more waste being collected at the kerbside.

Residents have been putting the right stuff in the right bin when it might have otherwise ended up as unrecycled commercial waste in street litter bins if many people had continued going to their place of work as before.

The lifting of restrictions and continuing pandemic-related shortages, such as the HGV driver shortage, will likely have an impact on next year's results.

Councillor Laura Miller, Dorset Council's portfolio holder for customer and community services, said: "This is a phenomenal achievement considering the size and rurality of our county.

"The entire waste services team has been working hard over the last 10 years, since the rollout of the kerbside Recycle for Dorset collection service, to get this far. I want to thank all our waste services employees, both frontline and office-based, for everything they do - keep up the good work.

"Most of all, I want to give a big thank you to the Dorset residents who, once again, have shown themselves to be amongst the best recyclers in England. Your efforts to put the right stuff in the right bin not only help protect the environment but have saved millions of pounds that we can put towards other essential services."

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