Milton Keynes has shot to the top of national recycling stakes to be named the country’s highest performing city for collecting recyclable waste.

Since the council introduced the new red and blue wheelie bin system in September 2023, the recycling figures have risen dramatically.

Last year, an impressive 63.2% of the city’s household waste was recycled, reused or composted – an achievement that caused MK to rise 76 places in the nation’s official recycling chart – from number 83 to number 7.

This year, Milton Keynes has emerged as the top city in the chart, and second highest overall.

The new wheelie bins have made a huge difference to recycling figures in MK

placeholder image — The new wheelie bins have made a huge difference to recycling figures in MK

It lost out on the top spot – claimed by Stratford-on-Avon - by just 0.7%, which is around 1,000 tonnes of recycling. This is as much recycling as crews in Milton Keynes collect every seven working days, so getting to number 1 next year is something local people can easily achieve if they each reuse or recycle just a few items more.

Only six councils achieved a recycling rate of more than 60% in 2024/25. The national average is 43.8%.

MK City Council puts the city’s success down to the new wheelie bins, which encourage people to separate paper and card from plastic, metal and glass and result in a cleaner and greener collection system.

“As well as making it easier for local people to sort their recyclables, this change encouraged many more households to take part. As a result, the amount of recycling processed in the city increased by more than a third,” said an MKCC spokesperson.

“Recycling saves energy, reduces waste and helps tackle climate change. In Milton Keynes, hardly any waste goes to landfill and in most months, nothing is sent as the City Council uses waste that can’t be recycled to generate electricity which powers many of its vehicles,” they added.

The City Council is now extending a massive thank you to all local people who recycle.

"This collective effort has got the city into second place, and the goal is to get to first place next year, especially as such a small amount of additional recycling would get us to number 1,” said the spokesperson.

Residents can check on the council website here what can and can’t be recycled.