The proportion of household rubbish collected in Hertfordshire sent to landfill has dramatically reduced – and is now significantly lower than the rest of the region.

Data – in the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership's annual report – shows that in 2024/25 just 0.3% of Hertfordshire's residual waste was sent to landfill.

That's significantly lower than the 5.5% of waste recorded as having been sent to landfill across England in the same year – and the 18.4% recorded in the East of England region.

And it puts the county council on track to meet its target of sending nothing to landfill by 2030.

The data is included in the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership's annual report for 2024/25, which has now been presented to Partnership members.

According to the report, 231,246 tonnes of residual waste – which is waste that cannot be recycled, reused or composted – were collected across Hertfordshire in 2024/25.

Just 1,559 tonnes were sent to landfill – which is reported to be 97.25% lower than the 56,632tonnes sent to landfill the previous year.

And – with new disposal contracts coming into force – a total of 228,357 tonnes were treated at energy recovery facilities, where waste is combusted to generate electricity for the National Grid.

Between 2023/24 and 2024/25, the report suggests the proportion of Hertfordshire's residual waste treated at 'energy recovery facilities' increased from 74.4% to 98.8%.

And that trend has been welcomed by partnership chair Cllr Tim Williams, who is a Liberal Democrat member of Hertfordshire County Council and Watford Borough Council.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We are pleased to report that Hertfordshire is sending significantly less waste to landfill (0.3% in 2024/25 down from 12% in 2023/24), achieved by sending non-recyclable waste to energy recovery facilities.

"We encourage residents to fully engage with recycling services (including their weekly food waste service) to ensure no recyclable materials end up in their refuse bin."

Aside from 'residual' waste, the report also records the items that are collected for recycling in the county and where they are sent on to.

Organic waste – including food waste, green garden waste and compostable street sweepings – is reported to have been sent to composting facilities in Hertfordshire and in neighbouring authorities.

But some of the dry recyclables – including cardboard, cans and tyres – faced a much longer journey.

According to the annual report, 77.84% of recyclable items collected in Hertfordshire in 2024/25 were recycled or reused in the UK, with 34.29% of that remaining in the East or Southeast England.

Of those, 17.77% were sent to Asia, 3.59% to EU countries, 0.06% to Europe (non-EU); and 0.18% to Africa.

And according to the report: "The majority of Hertfordshire's dry recycling is processed within the UK (77.84% in 2024/25).

"In fact, just over a third (34.29%) remains in the region and is recycled in Hertfordshire, the East and the Southeast of England.

"However, it is important to acknowledge that the market for recyclables is global, and the principal market for some commodities is found abroad.

"There is not always sufficient capacity or a suitable facility to reprocess all materials within the UK.

"A significant percentage of consumer goods are made in East and Southeast Asia, meaning this is where the demand for packaging materials is highest."

And Cllr Williams said: "We celebrate the fact that more recycling collected in Hertfordshire is now reprocessed within the UK than ever before.

"While we prioritise domestic recycling routes, for some materials the principal market is found abroad where the demand for recycled packaging materials is highest.

"We would welcome greater policy certainty and long-term support from government to encourage investment in domestic reprocessing infrastructure, to help reduce reliance on export markets and strengthen the UK's circular economy."

As part of the report, the final destinations for recyclable materials are also broken down by material.

It records that most of the plastics collected in Hertfordshire in 2024/25 (76.13%) were recycled in the UK.

But the majority of card, cardboard and paper are reported to have been recycled overseas, "in state-of-the-art paper mills in East, South and South East Asia".

According to the data, just 0.76% of card and cardboard was recycled in the UK in 2024/25, compared to 89.07% in 2023/24.

It suggests that 14.85% of mixed card, cardboard and paper was recycled in the UK in 2024/25, compared to 7.68% the year before.

And it says 25.11% of paper had its final destination in the UK in 2024/25, compared to 36.44% the year before.

The proportion of plastics recycled in the UK in 2024/25 was 76.13%; steel cans 22%; aluminium cans 56.8%; textiles 23.4%; tyres 12.94%; and beverage cartons 32.3%.