Waste Statistics in Moray

Latest Annual Recycling Figures 2021: 52.32% of Household waste is recycled.

National Targets

(Percentage of Municipal Waste to be recycled or composted)

2025 -  70%

On average each household in Moray produces 398kg of waste per year.

Approximately 51% of the average household bins contains materials that can be recycled at kerbside.

35% of the average household bin is still made up of food and garden waste that could have been composted or placed in your brown bin. 

Green waste is the most potent source of methane, a greenhouse gas, which is produced when it is disposed of in landfill.

Over 5 million disposable nappies are thrown away every year in Moray and can take between 250-500 years to decompose.

We really don’t know how long some materials will take to break down in a landfill site if not recycled or reused but it has been estimated:

• Glass bottles/jars: 1 million years
• Plastic bags:  500 - 1,000 years
• Plastic bottles: 500-1,000 years
• Aluminum can: 80-200 years
• Cigarette butts: 1-5years
• Newspapers: 2-4 weeks
• Apple core: 1-2 months

All above times are subject to variation depending upon the conditions within the landfill site.

Figures for 2016 - 2021

The below table shows waste (in tonnes) generated from domestic household collections and HWRCs (Household Waste Recycling Centres) and how much of this waste was re-used, recycled and disposed of in landfill. These figures do not include commercial waste.

This is all available on the following public site:
https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/HouseholdWaste