Public money · peer comparison

Waste and recycling: every shire district ranked by spend per resident

158 councils · median £53.11/person · mean £54.11/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.

Rank	Council	Control	Population	Total spend	Per resident	vs median
1	South Hams	LD	92,148	£9.7m	£105.59	+99%
2	Cotswold	LD	91,661	£9.6m	£104.52	+97%
3	Oxford	Green	166,034	£17.2m	£103.68	+95%
4	East Lindsey	Con	145,183	£14.5m	£100.14	+89%
5	North Devon	LD	101,222	£10.1m	£100.00	+88%
6	Derbyshire Dales	LD	71,757	£7.1m	£98.75	+86%
7	Boston	BOS	71,080	£6.9m	£97.13	+83%
8	Epping Forest	Ref	137,451	£12.0m	£87.63	+65%
9	East Cambridgeshire	Con	92,906	£7.6m	£82.30	+55%
10	Thanet	Lab	142,691	£11.7m	£82.16	+55%
11	Lincoln	Ref	105,114	£8.4m	£79.68	+50%
12	East Devon	Ind	158,239	£12.5m	£79.30	+49%
13	Mansfield	Lab	113,138	£8.9m	£79.04	+49%
14	West Devon	Con	58,923	£4.5m	£76.69	+44%
15	Basingstoke and Deane	BAS	193,110	£14.7m	£76.07	+43%
16	South Holland	Con	99,298	£7.4m	£74.70	+41%
17	Dartford	Con	125,011	£9.3m	£74.50	+40%
18	Great Yarmouth	Con	100,529	£7.1m	£70.78	+33%
19	Watford	LD	107,171	£7.6m	£70.55	+33%
20	Chichester	LD	128,934	£9.1m	£70.42	+33%
21	Havant	Ref	126,985	£8.7m	£68.49	+29%
22	South Derbyshire	Lab	117,493	£8.0m	£68.45	+29%
23	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Ref	127,727	£8.7m	£68.00	+28%
24	Torridge	Ind	69,841	£4.7m	£67.81	+28%
25	Rother	Con	96,133	£6.4m	£66.82	+26%
26	Three Rivers	Con	95,807	£6.4m	£66.79	+26%
27	West Oxfordshire	LD	120,941	£8.1m	£66.70	+26%
28	New Forest	Con	176,116	£11.5m	£65.54	+23%
29	East Suffolk	Green	249,664	£16.3m	£65.16	+23%
30	Cherwell	LD	170,426	£11.0m	£64.70	+22%
31	Basildon	Ref	193,632	£12.4m	£64.29	+21%
32	High Peak	Lab	91,959	£5.9m	£64.04	+21%
33	Hyndburn	Ref	86,058	£5.5m	£63.47	+20%
34	Bassetlaw	Lab	124,937	£7.9m	£63.10	+19%
35	Surrey Heath	LD	94,492	£5.9m	£62.47	+18%
36	Welwyn Hatfield	LD	122,819	£7.7m	£62.41	+18%
37	North Hertfordshire	Con	137,201	£8.5m	£62.25	+17%
38	Norwich	Green	147,182	£9.2m	£62.20	+17%
39	Sevenoaks	Con	122,748	£7.6m	£61.95	+17%
40	North Norfolk	LD	103,217	£6.4m	£61.83	+16%
41	Cambridge	Green	149,352	£9.2m	£61.71	+16%
42	Swale	Lab	158,379	£9.8m	£61.56	+16%
43	East Hampshire	Con	129,975	£8.0m	£61.50	+16%
44	Stroud	Green	125,680	£7.7m	£61.48	+16%
45	Teignbridge	LD	138,548	£8.5m	£61.42	+16%
46	Lewes	Green	102,363	£6.3m	£61.35	+16%
47	Maldon	Con	69,131	£4.2m	£60.68	+14%
48	East Staffordshire	Lab	129,659	£7.8m	£60.11	+13%
49	Ribble Valley	Con	65,794	£3.9m	£59.63	+12%
50	Huntingdonshire	LD	190,619	£11.3m	£59.54	+12%
51	Tendring	Con	156,759	£9.3m	£59.15	+11%
52	Forest of Dean	Green	89,753	£5.3m	£59.14	+11%
53	Newark and Sherwood	Con	127,886	£7.6m	£59.12	+11%
54	West Lancashire	Ref	121,995	£7.2m	£59.04	+11%
55	Hastings	Green	91,219	£5.4m	£58.76	+11%
56	Staffordshire Moorlands	Lab	96,651	£5.7m	£58.76	+11%
57	Colchester	Ref	200,222	£11.7m	£58.58	+10%
58	Tamworth	Ref	81,117	£4.7m	£57.93	+9%
59	Mid Suffolk	Green	110,775	£6.4m	£57.70	+9%
60	Winchester	LD	135,632	£7.8m	£57.46	+8%
61	Exeter	Green	138,399	£7.9m	£57.13	+8%
62	Elmbridge	LD	141,926	£8.1m	£57.03	+7%
63	Tewkesbury	LD	101,949	£5.8m	£56.97	+7%
64	Waverley	LD	134,284	£7.6m	£56.90	+7%
65	Cannock Chase	Ref	104,088	£5.8m	£56.09	+6%
66	Arun	Con	170,064	£9.5m	£55.76	+5%
67	Mole Valley	LD	88,709	£4.9m	£55.76	+5%
68	Bolsover	Lab	83,773	£4.7m	£55.73	+5%
69	Melton	Con	54,052	£3.0m	£55.69	+5%
70	Spelthorne	LD	107,074	£5.9m	£55.49	+4%
71	Folkestone and Hythe	Lab	112,411	£6.2m	£54.88	+3%
72	Lancaster	Lab	145,006	£7.9m	£54.76	+3%
73	Dover	Lab	119,768	£6.5m	£54.67	+3%
74	Gloucester	LD	138,598	£7.6m	£54.55	+3%
75	Dacorum	LD	161,420	£8.8m	£54.49	+3%
76	Gravesham	Lab	110,671	£6.0m	£54.06	+2%
77	Horsham	LD	151,521	£8.2m	£53.93	+2%
78	Ipswich	Ref	140,274	£7.5m	£53.53	+1%
79	South Oxfordshire	LD	156,470	£8.3m	£53.33	+0%
80	Rugby	LD	122,378	£6.5m	£52.89	-0%
81	Gedling	Lab	120,179	£6.3m	£52.33	-1%
82	Babergh	Green	97,033	£5.1m	£52.08	-2%
83	Gosport	Ref	82,921	£4.3m	£51.97	-2%
84	Wyre	Con	118,743	£6.1m	£51.67	-3%
85	West Lindsey	LD	99,208	£5.1m	£51.63	-3%
86	Canterbury	Lab	162,100	£8.3m	£51.05	-4%
87	Crawley	Ref	124,008	£6.3m	£51.05	-4%
88	Rushcliffe	Con	126,736	£6.5m	£50.96	-4%
89	Vale of White Horse	LD	149,347	£7.6m	£50.86	-4%
90	Fenland	Con	104,896	£5.3m	£50.75	-4%
91	Chelmsford	LD	188,803	£9.6m	£50.74	-4%
92	Rochford	Ref	89,815	£4.5m	£50.64	-5%
93	Runnymede	Lab	92,118	£4.7m	£50.60	-5%
94	Bromsgrove	Con	101,685	£5.1m	£50.40	-5%
95	Stratford-on-Avon	LD	146,258	£7.3m	£50.10	-6%
96	Preston	LD	162,864	£8.2m	£50.08	-6%
97	Hinckley and Bosworth	LD	116,682	£5.8m	£49.99	-6%
98	South Cambridgeshire	LD	172,544	£8.6m	£49.99	-6%
99	Mid Sussex	LD	161,755	£8.0m	£49.20	-7%
100	Charnwood	Con	188,385	£9.2m	£48.69	-8%
101	North Kesteven	Con	122,468	£5.9m	£48.45	-9%
102	Stevenage	Ref	91,774	£4.4m	£48.35	-9%
103	Harborough	Con	104,713	£5.1m	£48.28	-9%
104	Woking	LD	105,679	£5.1m	£48.20	-9%
105	Wychavon	Con	138,017	£6.6m	£47.91	-10%
106	Epsom and Ewell	RES	83,288	£4.0m	£47.82	-10%
107	St Albans	LD	151,012	£7.1m	£46.98	-12%
108	Fylde	Con	85,447	£4.0m	£46.44	-13%
109	South Ribble	Lab	116,113	£5.3m	£45.78	-14%
110	Wealden	LD	166,908	£7.6m	£45.62	-14%
111	Hertsmere	Con	110,212	£5.0m	£44.93	-15%
112	Fareham	Con	115,428	£5.1m	£44.51	-16%
113	Worcester	Lab	106,671	£4.7m	£44.49	-16%
114	West Suffolk	Con	188,485	£8.4m	£44.43	-16%
115	Pendle	Ind	99,777	£4.4m	£44.26	-17%
116	Burnley	Ref	99,233	£4.4m	£44.18	-17%
117	Tunbridge Wells	LD	119,694	£5.3m	£44.06	-17%
118	Braintree	Con	164,304	£7.1m	£43.48	-18%
119	Chorley	Ref	120,839	£5.2m	£42.79	-19%
120	Malvern Hills	Ind	83,227	£3.5m	£42.44	-20%
121	Cheltenham	LD	121,739	£5.2m	£42.44	-20%
122	Test Valley	Con	135,201	£5.7m	£42.09	-21%
123	Nuneaton and Bedworth	Ref	141,565	£5.9m	£41.58	-22%
124	Ashford	Con	140,936	£5.9m	£41.54	-22%
125	Tonbridge and Malling	Con	136,853	£5.6m	£40.75	-23%
126	Maidstone	Con	187,767	£7.6m	£40.51	-24%
127	Blaby	Con	108,165	£4.3m	£40.13	-24%
128	Lichfield	Con	111,932	£4.5m	£40.01	-25%
129	Adur	Ref	64,889	£2.6m	£39.81	-25%
130	Eastleigh	LD	142,933	£5.7m	£39.61	-25%
131	Castle Point	THE	90,581	£3.5m	£39.17	-26%
132	South Staffordshire	Con	114,423	£4.5m	£39.06	-26%
133	Breckland	Con	146,620	£5.7m	£39.02	-27%
134	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	Con	156,206	£5.8m	£37.35	-30%
135	Harlow	Con	98,235	£3.7m	£37.27	-30%
136	Rushmoor	Ref	105,751	£3.9m	£36.91	-31%
137	Hart	LD	103,162	£3.8m	£36.78	-31%
138	Tandridge	LD	90,586	£3.3m	£36.52	-31%
139	North East Derbyshire	Lab	106,646	£3.8m	£36.00	-32%
140	South Kesteven	Con	147,151	£5.3m	£35.75	-33%
141	Wyre Forest	Con	103,913	£3.7m	£35.65	-33%
142	East Hertfordshire	Green	156,875	£5.6m	£35.63	-33%
143	Rossendale	Lab	73,045	£2.6m	£35.24	-34%
144	Mid Devon	LD	84,993	£2.9m	£34.49	-35%
145	Chesterfield	Lab	106,045	£3.6m	£33.66	-37%
146	Eastbourne	LD	104,259	£3.4m	£33.06	-38%
147	Reigate and Banstead	Green	159,134	£5.3m	£33.05	-38%
148	Uttlesford	RES	95,106	£3.1m	£32.78	-38%
149	Stafford	Con	141,556	£4.6m	£32.73	-38%
150	Erewash	Lab	114,253	£3.7m	£32.45	-39%
151	Broxtowe	Lab	114,565	£3.5m	£30.33	-43%
152	Broadland	Con	138,157	£4.0m	£28.82	-46%
153	Redditch	Ref	87,847	£2.4m	£27.37	-48%
154	South Norfolk	Con	148,448	£3.9m	£26.05	-51%
155	Broxbourne	Con	101,900	£2.4m	£23.47	-56%
156	Worthing	Green	113,866	£2.5m	£22.03	-59%
157	Brentwood	Ref	79,326	£1.3m	£17.01	-68%
158	Oadby and Wigston	LD	61,695	£1.0m	£15.98	-70%

What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the waste and recycling bucket from each council’s 2024-25 Revenue Outturn (RO) submission to MHCLG, divided by ONS mid-year population. Higher per-head doesn’t imply waste — it can reflect demographic need (e.g. more older residents), rurality, or policy choice (e.g. retaining in-house services rather than contracting out). Lower per-head doesn’t imply efficiency — some councils have moved costs to fees, grants, or a ringfenced account.

Caveats. Councils under MHCLG suppression for 2024-25 don’t appear here (Birmingham, Slough, Cumberland and others — see their council card for the reason). Comparisons across the tier line don’t make sense, which is why this table is filtered to one council type at a time. Source: MHCLG Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing.