New figures show that nearly half of all Kingston’s waste was recycled or composted in in the past year, a new record for the borough.

Over 48 percent of the borough’s waste, around 29,200 tonnes this year, was recycled or composted, compared with 47 percent last year.

A Kingston borough council spokesperson said “The increase from last year’s figure was due to residents recycling more at home, especially food waste, and throwing less in the rubbish bin as a result.

“This is great news for the environment and reduces the cost of waste disposal.”

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Cllr Hilary Gander, portfolio holder with responsibility for waste services at Kingston Council, said: “This would not have been possible without the commitment of our residents - so a big thank you to them.

“Our next steps are to think about how we can improve these figures and reach our recycling target of 50%.

“Recent analysis shows that although there have been significant improvements over time, we can do more to recycle.

“Almost a quarter of what is in our rubbish bins is wasted food, which could be recycled using the weekly food collection service.

“By continuing to reduce the amount of food that doesn’t get eaten and by recycling any remaining cooked and uncooked food, we can save the council money and significantly improve Kingston’s performance.”