We’re pleased to report that recycling rates for all recycling services run by the Council across the islands increased in financial year 2024/25.
The waste and recycling performance data for financial year 2024/25, which was reported to Full Council on 25 June 2025 puts recycling rates for St Mary’s, St Agnes, Bryher and St Martins collectively at 42.89%, compared to 40% for 2023/24. The graph below is taken from Appendix A of the Full Council report and shows how much of our waste and recycling has been either retained on the islands or sent to the mainland each year since 2018/19, as well as the trends in recycling rates during that time.
Graph 1: Volumes of Waste and Recycling (Y axis - Waste, 0 - 2000 tonnes); X axis - Reporting Years, 2018-2025)
| Total retained on island | |
| Total waste and recycling sent to the mainland | |
| Total recycling |
This increase of almost 3% is the highest annual rate ever recorded for the islands and reflects a significant effort made by the entire community, so we’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone involved, including our customers, staff and contractors.
Our Waste Reduction Strategy 2020-2030 sets the following targets for 2025:
- A 15% reduction in the volume of waste produced on the islands
- A 15% increase in the volume of waste materials reused on the islands
The latest data confirms that the total amount of waste and recycling produced in 2024/25 on the islands has actually increased by 14.6% from the previous year. However, as previously reported, waste and recycling volumes have historically fluctuated in this way every year since the baseline year (2018-2019) and the trend is not consistent. As previously reported, the Council’s target of a 15% reduction of the total waste and recycling produced by 2025 is considered unachievable because the Council has little control over the total volume of material it receives. The Council can, however, positively influence the amount of material from this total that is diverted to reuse or recycling. We are pleased to report that the Council has reduced the total volume of residual waste sent for disposal by 21.3% since 2018/19. We therefore consider that the Council has achieved the target set in the Waste Reduction Strategy of a 15% reduction in the total volume of waste by 2025.
We have also exceeded the second target for the second year in a row by increasing the volume of material retained on island for reuse (rubble, garden waste and glass bottles and jars) to 356 tonnes in 2024/25 – a 28.5% increase from the previous year.
Councillor John Peacock, Lead Member for the Environment, Environment Services and Climate Change said: “It’s fantastic to see the achievements made over the last 10 years to improve the waste and recycling service across the islands. Without the efforts of residents and businesses, our front-line staff and our contractors, we would not be able to achieve our targets. As a Council we are committed to delivering sustainable and compliant waste and recycling services for the benefit of all and with the whole community making the effort to recycle more and reduce waste, I am hopeful that we can sustain and improve the rates of recycling and reuse across the islands.”
Further information
For more information on waste and recycling across the islands, please visit the Waste and Recycling pages on the Council’s website or email zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk.