ENDING landfill in Durham is one of the county council’s greatest achievements of its first five years, its leader said today (Wednesday, October 15).

Durham County Council leader Simon Henig was responding to figures showing the percentage of the county’s waste going to landfill has fallen from 37.5 per cent to 6.3 per cent.

None of that rubbish is buried within the county, with most delivered to Sita’s Energy from Waste facility at Billingham on Teesside.

Councillor Henig said this was an extraordinary achievement.

“It’s one of the major achievements of the unitary council (established in 2009). “Perhaps it’s not as glamorous as some of the events we’ve hosted but it’s as important, if not more,” he added.

The council has made a number of changes to how it deals with rubbish, including switching to fortnightly bin collections and closing some household waste recycling centres.

Bosses say these changes have helped the authority save more than £5m.

From next year, householders will be asked to pay £20 a year to have their garden waste collected. More than 8,000 properties have signed up since the scheme was launched last month.