Northampton residents create the least household waste in England, according to sustainable living experts

A new study has revealed that Northampton residents create the least waste in England.

The study - carried out by sustainable living experts, Bower Collective - found that Northampton generates 107kg of household waste per person per year. This is 73 percent less than the average town in England.

Bower Collective’s study compared more than 100 different English towns and cities, to find each locality's ‘wasteful score’.

Considering household waste, recycling and fly-tipping government statistics, the study also looks at the five year trend to see which towns and cities are making progress towards a less wasteful future.

Northampton ranked number one in producing the least household waste out of 112 towns and cities in the country. Meanwhile, it ranked 95th for recycling rate and 94th under the fly-tipping rate. It had an overall rank of 58 out of 112 towns and cities in creating the least waste in England.

The study also compared the 2019-2020 results to those in 2014-2015, to find the five year trend.

Northampton has seen a four percent increase in household waste between 2014-15 and 2019-20, a two percent decrease in recycling rate in the same period, and a 81 percent increase in fly-tipping incidents.

Information obtained by Chronicle & Echo via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that - from November 1, 2020 to November 1, 2021 - the former Northampton Borough Council received 23,821 reports of fly-tipping.Some streets in Northampton individually saw as many as 270 reports in the year up to November 2021.

In total, in the newly established West Northamptonshire area, there were 25,975 reports in 12 months.

Considering all factors, Bower Collective's study found that residents in Stroud in Gloucestershire, Colchester in Essex and Dover in Kent are England’s least wasteful.

Nottingham is the most wasteful, followed by South Shields and Sunderland in the Tyne and Wear.

A survey hosted by Bower Collective found that 98 percent of respondents said that they would make using less single-use-plastic one of their resolutions for 2022 and one in three admitted that their recycling habits ‘could be better.'

You can read more about the study carried out by Bower Collective at https://bowercollective.com/pages/englands-least-wasteful-cities.