ANNUAL recycling statistics show that almost 50 per cent of waste was recycled in the Forest last year – up on the previous year.

The findings, released by Defra, show that 48.3 per cent of household waste was sent for re-use, recycling or composting between 2013 and 2014 by the Forest of Dean District Council.

The findings, compiled on behalf of SITA UK by economics and planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, showed the rate of recycling across the south west. The Forest's result came out as average.

Cllr Marrilyn Smart, Cabinet Member for the Environment said: "We would like to say a big thank you to residents for their fantastic efforts in increasing recycling in the district.

"In March 2012 our combined recycling and composting rate stood at 40.1 per cent. Following the introduction of a weekly food waste recycling service in the summer of 2012, this rate has risen to 48.3 per cent. This means that five thousand six hundred tonnes of food waste had subsequently been diverted from landfill reducing the landfill tax bill by £400,000."