Waste and recycling: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £101.87/person · mean £118.04/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £1.9m | £810.23 | +695% | |
| 2 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £42.3m | £183.72 | +80% | |
| 3 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £25.7m | £155.48 | +53% | |
| 4 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £88.1m | £151.07 | +48% | |
| 5 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £41.5m | £150.54 | +48% | |
| 6 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £21.1m | £146.34 | +44% | |
| 7 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £5.9m | £143.51 | +41% | |
| 8 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £88.4m | £139.20 | +37% | |
| 9 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £22.8m | £133.06 | +31% | |
| 10 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £46.6m | £130.89 | +28% | |
| 11 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £36.0m | £126.96 | +25% | |
| 12 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £65.9m | £122.51 | +20% | |
| 13 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £37.5m | £122.26 | +20% | |
| 14 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £71.4m | £121.44 | +19% | |
| 15 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £35.4m | £120.96 | +19% | |
| 16 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £13.4m | £119.40 | +17% | |
| 17 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £23.8m | £119.13 | +17% | |
| 18 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £21.6m | £118.19 | +16% | |
| 19 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £21.8m | £117.63 | +15% | |
| 20 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £18.5m | £115.71 | +14% | |
| 21 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £22.2m | £113.30 | +11% | |
| 22 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £43.6m | £111.82 | +10% | |
| 23 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £36.4m | £109.69 | +8% | |
| 24 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £14.1m | £108.08 | +6% | |
| 25 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £23.9m | £106.47 | +5% | |
| 26 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £14.7m | £104.58 | +3% | |
| 27 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £53.9m | £102.96 | +1% | |
| 28 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £24.5m | £102.58 | +1% | |
| 29 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £16.3m | £102.58 | +1% | |
| 30 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £50.4m | £101.87 | 0% | |
| 31 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £13.4m | £101.87 | 0% | |
| 32 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £15.9m | £101.72 | -0% | |
| 33 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £41.4m | £101.12 | -1% | |
| 34 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £27.7m | £101.08 | -1% | |
| 35 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £39.0m | £100.46 | -1% | |
| 36 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £33.0m | £99.74 | -2% | |
| 37 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £13.8m | £99.42 | -2% | |
| 38 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £18.6m | £99.33 | -2% | |
| 39 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £9.7m | £99.12 | -3% | |
| 40 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £30.2m | £98.68 | -3% |
| 41 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £26.7m | £98.66 | -3% | |
| 42 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £17.5m | £96.64 | -5% |
| 43 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £15.5m | £95.63 | -6% | |
| 44 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £20.3m | £94.94 | -7% | |
| 45 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £18.0m | £94.04 | -8% | |
| 46 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £25.3m | £92.90 | -9% | |
| 47 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £40.9m | £92.89 | -9% |
| 48 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £38.8m | £92.03 | -10% | |
| 49 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £18.8m | £90.75 | -11% | |
| 50 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £23.5m | £90.55 | -11% | |
| 51 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £33.4m | £89.89 | -12% | |
| 52 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £18.3m | £87.29 | -14% | |
| 53 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £27.9m | £83.86 | -18% | |
| 54 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £26.1m | £82.70 | -19% | |
| 55 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £30.1m | £80.61 | -21% | |
| 56 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £18.9m | £77.65 | -24% |
| 57 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £15.0m | £77.15 | -24% | |
| 58 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £10.6m | £74.74 | -27% | |
| 59 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £15.1m | £70.02 | -31% | |
| 60 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £14.2m | £63.64 | -38% | |
| 61 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £34.2m | £59.08 | -42% |
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.