Cheshire East Council has exceeded the national waste strategy target to recycle 40 per cent of household waste by 2010.
Figures published by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show the Council achieved a recycling rate in 2009/10 of 49.46 per cent.
This was the highest rate in the North West, well above the national average of 39.7 per cent and shows Cheshire East residents are well on the way to achieving the proposed national 50 per cent goal by 2020.
Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member with responsibility for environmental services, said: "We would like to thank everybody for their efforts to recycle waste, which has helped us to achieve such a fantastic result and enhance the Cheshire East environment.
"In participating in the recycling schemes, the people of Cheshire East have contributed to diverting more than 48,637 tonnes of household waste for reuse or recycling that would otherwise have ended up in landfill.
"This reduces carbon emissions through avoiding disposal and allowing the material to be reused in making new products. It also saves us all money with restrictions on landfill disposal. It now costs the Council five times less to recycle household waste than it does to send it to landfill.
"Thank you for your hard work and commitment to recycling and please bear with us as a new authority as we work to improve our kerbside recycling collection to provide a consistent service across Cheshire East."
The 40 per cent target was set in the previous government's Waste Strategy for England 2007. England will be expected to meet 50 per cent under the revised EU Waste Framework Directive, which is expected to become law by December 2012.
In Cheshire East, newspapers put in recycling bins can be turned into new 100 per cent recycled paper within seven days of collection.
Picture: Councillor Rod Menlove at the waste transfer station at Pym's Lane depot, Crewe.
