Find out more about Landfill Sites and Energy from Waste by clicking on the links above.
In 2024, households in Devon threw away just over 390,000 tonnes of waste – this included ‘rubbish’, food waste and recycling. Of this, 54.5% is recycled, which is great news, until you realise that 168,361 tonnes of rubbish still needs to be disposed of – that’s the equivalent of 25,901 African Elephants!
Previously, all of this waste would have been sent to landfill. Since they both opened in Spring 2015, Devon has been sending some of its waste to new Energy from Waste plants in Exeter and Plymouth. In January 2019, waste from Devon stopped being sent to landfill – it’s either recycled or used to produce electricity in an Energy from Waste plant!
In the pie charts below you can see how EfW has almost replaced landfill in the treatment of Devon’s rubbish over the last 10 years.
Litter
Litter is waste that has not ended up in recycling, Energy from Waste plants or landfill streams. It has been disposed of in a way that can pollute the environment. Find out more on our litter pages here.
