Cheshire East is one of the best-performing boroughs in the north west when it comes to recycling, with over half of all household waste collected now being either recycled, reused or composted.
The latest figures, which cover 2011/2012, show that 52.9% of household waste was recycled – up from 49% the previous year.
As spokesperson for Cheshire East said "The impressive figures are largely down to the introduction of the 'all-in-one' silver bin system, that was rolled out across Cheshire East in 2011.
"The new system simplifies recycling for residents by asking them to place all recyclables in one bin. This is collected fortnightly, with residual household waste collections the alternate week."
Cheshire East is now the second best-performing authority in the region for recycling and it comes in the top 50 nationally.
Councillor David Topping, Cabinet member in charge of the environment, said: "These figures are excellent news and I would like to thank residents for working with us to make Cheshire East a cleaner and greener place to live.
"We will not be resting on our laurels and will continue our efforts to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill and improve our recycling rate further."
These figures come at a time when the Council is facing increasing criticism over their aborted plans to build a recycling station at Lyme Green Depot in Macclesfield which has cost Cheshire East taxpayers over £800,000.
Cheshire East broke planning rules, as the main contractor commenced work on the site before planning permission had been granted, officers did not comply with EU Procurement Regulations or ensure there was effective reporting to members of the council.
As a result of the debacle two senior officers (John Nicholson, Strategic Director Places and Organisational Capacity, and Caroline Elwood, Borough Solicitor), whose actions were investigated in relation to the proposal to build a recycling station, resigned.
This was followed by the resignation of Cabinet member Councillor Rod Menlove, who was responsible for this area as Environment Portfolio Holder, and the suspension of another senior officer who the Council have not yet named.
The report by a Designated Independent Person (DIP) into the causes of the failure of the Lyme Green development project, was completed and passed to the Council's staffing sub committee for consideration in December.
The Council announced that this report must remain confidential - which has annoyed many local residents who feel the public have the right to know what went on.
Cheshire East is facing increasing pressure to make the DIP report available to the public.
Councillor Murray, Chairman of the sub committee, said "I realise that many people are now demanding to have sight of the report by the DIP. I understand their interest.
"However, a report by a DIP is specifically exempt from Freedom of Information requests and there are other legal requirements that severely limit its distribution.
"I cannot say the report will never be made available, which is for others to decide, but any form of release at this time would at the least be very unhelpful and may well jeopardise the legal process we are following."
Jonathan Alexander, who has submitted a FOI request regarding the Lyme Green fiasco, said "I maintain that the public interest in seeing the report outweighs the harm to any individual named within it. I am sure Cllr Murray has been advised - but I submit wrongly - that the report is exempt from release.
"Personal information may potentially be exempt from release under s40, but it is subject to the public interest tests. The relevant test is not actually under the FOI Act exemptions, but under the Data Protection Act.
"Since no deeply personal information is likely to be in the report (bank account details, addresses, personal opinions by colleagues) then I believe the threshold of whether harm to the individual from release outweighing the public interest in release has not been met.
"s36 is a very high standard to reach - just because something is embarrassing is not sufficient. There are very few examples of councils being allowed to hide behind s36, and they apparently have to get consent from the ICO prior to relying on it.
"In similar circumstances in Wirral recently, the council decided to release the report of the DIP.
"So, I believe there is enough precedent to require the disclosure, despite public statements by Cllr Murray to the contrary."
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The Wilmslow Express has named the senior staff member who is facing disciplinary procedure. So those identified are already in the public domain however we don't know if there has been criticism of any elected members/cabinet memebers.