YORK is to miss its recycling targets this year – and city leaders say it’s because the credit crunch has led to people buying fewer treats.

Figures on the city’s waste situation have shown that although the amount of rubbish residents recycle is rising, City of York Council’s benchmark for 2010/11 looks likely to be missed.

But the authority said the anticipated shortfall will not mean Government penalties because it is still expected to comfortably exceed national recycling levels.

The council set itself a target of 48 per cent of waste being recycled this year, with the rest going to landfill. But analysis of its performance for the first quarter of 2009/10, which went before its executive yesterday, forecasts this will be missed by four per cent.

Coun Ann Reid, executive member for neighbourhood services, said York had suffered similar recycling-rate snags as other cities, with much of it caused by belt-tightening amid the recession.

“The main reason for the dip was people’s buying habits changed when money was tight and they spent less on luxury items like bottles of wine and glossy magazines, meaning less glass and paper was recycled,” she said.

“Industry is also reducing the amount of packing it is using, with a good example of this being Easter eggs, meaning residents are seeing a reduction in their overall waste.

“Our recycling rates are calculated using the total weight of recyclable material collected, so fewer heavy items like glass means the rate goes down.

“However, the total amount of waste collected also fell, so while recycling rates dipped slightly, the amount of waste sent to landfill still dropped.

“Recycling rates are now on the rise again and the roll-out of kerbside recycling to properties which do not currently benefit from the service will help improve this further.”

But Coun Ken King, neighbourhood services spokesman for the council’s Labour group, said York should set its recycling sights higher.

“After reaching about 43 per cent of waste recycled in 2007, the figure stands at almost exactly the same today,” he said.

“As landfill tax has increased, recycling rates standing still means the council is having to pay more. This is not sustainable, both environmentally and financially, and the targets and the amounts recycled need to be higher.”