This will help people who want to recycle at work as well as at home.

43% of local authorities now offer a trade recycling service compared to 23% in 2007 reflecting increased demand from businesses to dispose of their waste responsibly, and recycle at work as they can at home.

The percentage of local authorities offering a residual trade waste service has also increased from 56% to 65% in the last three years, while there has been a 6% increase in the number providing resource efficiency advice to businesses (from 51% to 57%) in the last year.

The number of authorities providing residual waste services, but not recycling services, is reducing. However, 37% of local authorities that provide residual trade waste collections still do not provide a recycling service.

The most common materials to be collected for recycling are paper and cardboard.

Most (83%) authorities that provide a recycling service, charge less for it than for residual waste services.

Despite a promising increase in the provision of recycling services, there remains a significant gap between the percentage of authorities that provide trade waste services that also provide recycling services. Regionally the largest gap is in Yorkshire and Humber followed by the East Midlands.

Half of local authorities said that they included commercial and industrial waste in their strategies, either stand-alone or as part of their municipal waste strategy.

There are significant regional variations: the North East comes out top, with almost 60% of councils providing recycling services, with the South East at the bottom with only about 25% doing so.

Phillip Ward, Director of Local Government Services at WRAP said: "Recycling at home is now a way of life and people quite rightly expect to be able to continue this practice in the workplace and elsewhere. It is very encouraging to see that more local authorities are introducing recycling services to help businesses avoid sending all their waste to landfill. This increase in recycling services reflects the support authorities provide for their local businesses, by providing services that meet their needs and help them reduce landfill costs.

"There remains a gap between the percentage of authorities providing residual waste services and those providing recycling services as well and there are clearly opportunities to close this gap."

Case studies and tips for developing trade recycling services are available on the WRAP website. WRAP is also developing comprehensive guidance for local authorities who are developing trade recycling services or looking to improve the efficiency of existing services.

Training courses will also be on offer from Autumn of this year. Interested authorities should contact Helen Bird for more information on 01295 817856 or email lgs@wrap.org.uk.

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