Rejected recyclable waste up 84% in England since 2011, BBC report finds

The amount of household rubbish being rejected for recycling in England has increased by 84% over the past four years, according to a BBC report analysing government figures.

A BBC Freedom of Information request found councils were unable to recycle 338,000 tonnes of waste in 2014-15 - up from about 184,000 tons in 2011-12.

But Department for Environment data shows total recycled waste rose from 10.7m to 11m tons a year in the period.

Councils say they are working to stop people putting the wrong items in bins.

The cost to local authorities of re-sorting so-called contaminated recycle bins is said to be the primary reason the vast majority of the waste is being rejected.

The Freedom of Information Request by BBC Breakfast found 97% of the rejected rubbish was incinerated or sent to landfill in 2013-14 - the most recent year for which such figures were available.

Just over 173,000 tonnes of rejected waste was incinerated or sent to landfill in 2011-12, with the figure rising to 270,000 tonnes two years later.