Monmouthshire County Council has finished 2nd in Wales for its recycling rate.

Figures for 2024-5 recently released put Monmouthshire at 72.3% for the proportion of waste collected that is reused, recycled or composted. This is just behind the overall leaders, Pembrokeshire, at 73.5%.

Research puts Wales in second place internationally for recycling, just behind Austria.

In recent years, Wales has been a trailblazer in the world of recycling. In the 1990s, recycling rates stood at around 5%. In more recent years, this has risen to more than 68%.

The data released recently by the Welsh Government are the first statistics to be published since new rules for workplaces were introduced, which require all businesses, public and third sector workplaces and collectors to keep key recyclable materials separate.

Monmouthshire County Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment, Catrin Maby, said: “This is wonderful news and testament to the hard work and dedication of people across Monmouthshire to do the right thing to help our environment. Recycling really matters, helping us to reduce carbon emissions and the amount of plastic that gets into our soils and watercourses.”

“The story of recycling in Wales is a really good example of what we can achieve when we work together as a society to protect our environment. We still have further to go, but we have shown that we can do it.”