Action call over Sunderland domestic waste figures

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data shows that Sunderland City Council collected 408 of household waste per person from homes in the area in 2019-20 – 36 kg less than five years earlier.

The average weight of man in the UK is 83.6kg

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy said there is an "urgent need" to completely overhaul how waste collection and disposal is approached, with more responsibility on producers to reduce packaging.

Of the waste collected from homes in the city 27.3% was sent for reuse, recycling or composting.

This is below the rate for the North East, where 35.5% of household waste was sent for recycling or reuse.

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive officer at Keep Britain Tidy, said: “Recycling rates have stalled for a decade.

"The hope is that the Environment Bill will see the crucial measures outlined in the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy actually come about.

She said that, with a third of food produced being wasted, there was also an urgent need to reduce this type of waste.

She added: "Ensuring young people learn to cook and value food is one aspect of the solution. In addition, we need to see an end to in-store promotions that encourage us to buy more than we need.”

Nationally, 407.3 kg of rubbish per person were collected from homes in the year to March, a decrease from last year's figure of 409.3 kg.