UK Household Waste Tonnages for Reuse, Recycling, and Composting

2016-17 data on tonnages of household waste sent for reuse, recycling, and composting by UK local authorities. The dataset originates from the statutory WasteDataFlow reporting system and is referenced by DEFRA and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). It provides a foundation for analyzing municipal waste management performance across the UK.

Use Cases

• Benchmarking local authority recycling performance against national targets based on reported tonnages.
• Analyzing trends in household waste diversion from landfill to reuse, recycling, and composting.
• Informing strategic waste management planning and resource allocation for local services.
• Supporting policy evaluation on the effectiveness of national waste and recycling initiatives.

Strengths

• Data originates from a statutory, web-based reporting system (WasteDataFlow), suggesting formal collection procedures.
• Cross-platform presence on UK and EU open data portals indicates recognized importance and official status.
• Referenced by authoritative bodies like DEFRA and WRAP, supporting its use in official statistics.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: no column names, row counts, or file formats are provided in any source.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one showing 2017 and another showing a future date of 2026, casting doubt on data freshness and maintenance.
• Public access requires registration on external sites, which may create a barrier to immediate use.

Provenance

Source

UK Government Digital Service, via the WasteDataFlow statutory reporting system.

Collection Method

Statutory reporting by UK local authorities to government.

Time Range

2016-17

Freshness

2026-04-29 06:01:53.206847 (Note: This future date from one source conflicts with an older 2017 date, indicating a likely metadata error.)

Geography

United Kingdom (local authority level)