Southampton Landfill Waste and Recycling Statistics 2025

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One of the cities with the worst recycling rate in the country as of March 2023, Southampton has been on a specific mission to try and rectify the situation. With a lot of work ahead of them over the next couple of years, Southampton council is currently hard at work to meet certain targets, in the hope of improving their standing.

In this article, we delve into the latest recycling facts and figures in Southampton.

How much waste does Southampton produce?

While the latest data provided by Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) is from 2022/23, it still gives us a good idea of the task Southampton City Council have on their hands at turning things around.

Our analysis found that in the year ending March 2023:

  • Southampton City Council collected 99,403 tonnes of waste that year. That’s around 621 blue whales worth of rubbish!
  • This places it at a similar level as the likes of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (99,341 tonnes) and North Somerset Council (94,462 tonnes).
  • This equated to 8kg of collected household waste per person and 570kg of residual household waste per household waste.

Southampton recycling rate: How does it compare to other cities?

Unfortunately, Southampton’s recycling rate in the year ending March 2023 was among the worst in England:

  • Only 27.4% of waste collected was being reused, recycled or composted, ranking it 318th out of 343 local authorities.
  • This was a drop from 27.7% the previous year, and far lower than the country’s average of 43.3% in 2022/23.
  • By comparison, South Oxfordshire District Council were top of the table, managing to recycle 61.6% of their waste, while Vale of White Horse District Council came third with a 60.9% recycling rate.
  • Among the 25 councils with a lower recycling rate than Southampton, Liverpool City Council recycled just 17.9% and Tower Hamlets LB in London were rock bottom with 17.7%.

How much of Southampton’s waste is sent to landfill?

While not every council provided data about their percentage of municipal waste being sent to landfill, Southampton City Council did:

  • The good news is that they were among the lowest in the country, sending only 4.3% of their waste to landfill.
  • To put that in perspective, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council sent 42.1% of their municipal waste to landfill, while Essex County Council sent the most at 50.4%.

So, if only 4.3% of Southampton’s municipal waste ends up in landfill areas, and 27.4% gets recycled, where does the rest go?

  • From the 99,403 tonnes of rubbish collected that year, 70,033 tonnes were sent to be incinerated to be turned into electricity, which equates to nearly 70.5%.
  • This puts Southampton as the council with the 9th highest incineration rate out of 343 local authorities, placing it in the top 3%.

While this is technically repurposing waste and a better solution than sending it to landfill, a 2024 analysis from the BBC revealed that burning rubbish is now the UK’s dirtiest form of power, putting on par with the now-stopped practice of burning coal.

Looking to the future

Looking at these statistics, it’s clear that Southampton City Council need to change their approach to dealing with waste, and that’s exactly what they are trying to do.

In early 2022, a ‘Waste Improvement and Transformation Plan’ was presented to Southampton City Council, with an aim of meeting certain recycling and waste management targets, as well wanting to ‘rid Southampton of the scourge of fly-tipping’ by 2030.

It was approved on February 7th 2022 and deemed effective from 16th February 2022, giving the green light to the project.

This was set to be applied in three stages, with April 2023 being their deadline to ensure their waste services had enough staff, the right equipment and ideal working conditions to put themselves in a position to improve going forward.

Their next deadline is April 2025, at which point they want to have seen a ‘steep increase in recycling’, as well as a far better customer experience.

Then comes the April 2027 deadline, which is the point Southampton City Council want to be ‘known as a leading waste authority’.

A good example of how they want to achieve all this is through their recycling rate goals:

  • By April 2023, the target was to achieve a recycling rate of 30% (they managed 27.4%).
  • By April 2025, they want to see that increase to 45%.
  • By April 2027, the aim is to reach a recycling rate of 50%+.

How can residents help reduce Southampton’s waste statistics?

While Southampton City Council is actively working to reduce waste and promote responsible disposal, it's also crucial for residents and businesses to do their part. Shopping at zero waste shops, recycling where possible and minimising waste generation in the home is a great start.

If you're seeking a sustainable way to dispose of household or commercial waste in Southampton, our professional rubbish removal services are here to help!