Published: 14/05/2026

Monmouthshire County Council is thanking residents, community groups and local businesses after the county continues to rank highly for recycling rates.

The latest confirmed and audited data shows Monmouthshire recycled 72.3% of the waste it collected in 2024-5, just behind Pembrokeshire at 73.5%. Current running totals show Monmouthshire moving into first place.

With Wales recognised as the second-best country in the world for recycling, the council is highlighting the community effort behind the result, from households carefully sorting at home to volunteers and community organisations supporting reuse and sharing, and frontline crews collecting materials every week.

Cllr Catrin Maby, Monmouthshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Monmouthshire, and it belongs to our communities.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to sort their recycling and food waste, and to the staff and local partners who help make it possible. Those everyday actions really do add up, and they help us protect our environment for the future.”

Recycling helps cut pollution, reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill (a major source of carbon emissions), and saves energy and raw materials, helping protect local places we all care about.

Recycling performance in Wales has improved dramatically from around 5% of waste reused, recycled or composted in the late 1990s to over 68% in 2024-25, showing what can be achieved when communities, councils and businesses work together.

The council was also recently recognised in the Council Climate Action Scorecards, receiving the highest score of any UK local authority for Waste Reduction and Food, at 93%.

The scorecards are produced by Climate Emergency UK, a not-for-profit organisation that supports and shares best practice to encourage effective climate action.

Monmouthshire County Council will continue to work with residents and partners to reduce waste and boost recycling, including weekly food waste collections, support for surplus food redistribution such as community fridges, and local circular economy projects including Benthyg “libraries of things” in Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouth and Abergavenny.

Cllr Maby continues: “As a council, we would like to thank all those volunteers who donate their time to community projects. Your dedication allows people to reuse or repair items that could easily be thrown away.

“Thank you to everyone across Monmouthshire for playing your part.”