Derry and Strabane crowned the north’s happiest recyclers

This means the council not only tops the polls for all 11 council areas in the north, but it is also up 5% since the same poll was carried out in 2019.

The survey revealed that householders in Derry City and Strabane Council area are the happiest recyclers in the north which corresponds with fact that they have the highest rate of household recycling per capital, with 88% saying that they recycle everything they can.

The survey showed that in council areas, such as Derry City and Strabane, where household recyclables (plastic, paper, card, tins and cardboard, etc.) can be ‘comingled’ with glass in the same bin, householders were on average 82% happy with their glass collection method.

Joseph Doherty, Managing Director of Re-Gen Waste, said: “These survey results indicate that by prioritising simplicity and convenience Derry City and Strabane Council is benefiting from a rising level of household recycling.

“Local authorities need to encourage the maximum number of people to recycle the maximum volume of materials. The councils we with work in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales tell us that household friendly schemes such as comingling recyclables in one bin are much preferable to residents than any pre-sort scheme using smaller containers or bins and that it’s clearly working for Derry City and Strabane’s recycling rates,” he added.

When Derry City and Strabane District Council householders were asked if they would recycle less if they had to sort their waste into separate caddies, 22% said they would. One in ten (11%) also admitted that they would dump their glass into their black bin, if their glass recycling receptacle was full.

Joseph continued: “While people have the desire to recycle more, their intentions don’t always reflect their behaviour. Simple factors such as convenience can be key to helping us all become better recyclers.

“More and more local authorities are seeing the benefits and cost savings achieved by using comingling collection services, alongside an ultra-modern materials recovery facility like ours that receives, separates, and prepares recyclables for productive use elsewhere.”

The survey was carried out by Lucid Talk across all 11 council areas in March 2022.