TENDRING has the worst recycling rate in the East of England, it has been revealed.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has released figures showing the district’s recycling rate falls at 27 per cent.

It is ranked just 22 places away from being the worst in England - out of 353 district councils.

But Tendring’s neighbouring districts had a substantially higher recycling rate with Colchester Borough Council’s being 54.8 per cent, and Babergh District Council’s being 48 per cent.

Rochford has the best recycling rate in Essex - and the fourth best in England - at a rate of 63 per cent.

Chris Southall, a Clacton Green Party campaigner, said Tendring Council should invest more money into recycling to improve its rating.

He said: “There’s a list of things we have been campaigning on to improve the situation.

“Colchester has a much better recycling rate than Tendring, so the council should communicate more with Colchester Borough Council to see what it’s doing differently.

“If Tendring Council wants its recycling figures to increase then it must put more money into recycling.”

Mr Southall said residents can make a difference by bringing glass bottles and drinks containers to recycling banks in supermarkets.

He said: “People could do more composting too with their own garden waste.

“They would then be creating their own valuable fertiliser too.”

A Tendring Council spokesman said it was worth noting these figures are from 2017/18.

He added: “We are aware of our low recycling rate in comparison to the rest of the East of England, and that is why recycling was a focus of a councillor task and finish group last year.

“Our new waste service, currently being rolled out, encourages people to recycle more by reducing their reliance on their black bin rubbish.

“As a consequence we have seen a surge in people collecting recycling boxes from us.

“In the past seven years we have issued around 30,000 sets, but in the past five weeks we have given out around 10,000 boxes.

“We believe this is a very positive sign of just how much recycling is being taken up by residents who either weren’t doing it at all before, or who are upping their game, which can only be a good thing for the environment.”