Annual review

Surrey Environment Partnership
April 2020 – March 2021

Activity and achievements 2020-21

Managing Surrey’s waste: What happened to Surrey’s waste

In recent years there has been increased interest from the media and residents about what happens to recycling and waste. Previously, a document listing end destination outlets was published on the SEP website, but to increase transparency, address misconceptions and reassure residents about what happens to their recycling and waste, it was agreed to publish a new report in a format that is easier to understand and engage with.

This also enables us to highlight how much waste is disposed of that could have been recycled and encourage residents to recycle more. Research shows that a barrier to recycling is not knowing that your efforts make a difference.

As the data for each year is published by Defra around nine months after the end of each reporting year, the work in 2020-21 involved producing the report covering Surrey’s waste from 2019-20.

The report includes:

• How much waste was collected overall, how much was recycled and how much was disposed of as rubbish.
• How much recycled material was processed in the UK and how much was sent abroad. This information was also broken down by material type.
• How much rubbish was sent to an energy from waste facility and how much was sent to landfill.
• How much rubbish was processed in the UK and how much was sent abroad.

‘What happened to Surrey’s waste, 2019-20’ was published on the SEP website, alongside an infographic and interactive map. The information is shown at countywide level and broken down by district and borough areas.

Key facts:

• 501,797 tonnes collected
• 56.3% recycled
• 36.9% turned into energy
• 6.8% landfilled
• 85.8% of recycling stayed in the UK