DESPITE being ‘one of the highest performing local authorities in England for recycling and waste management’, Oxfordshire County Council has failed to keep up its own high standards, it has admitted.

A council report showed that performance in its household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) has dipped and that it had failed to recycle 60 per cent of its rubbish.

But it said it will be able to save up to £1.5m as part of savings next year, partly because of a new contract between the council and the company which runs most of its HWRCs.

The local authority said ‘challenges’ at the centres had seen a dip in performance for the first six months of 2017, before increases for non-household waste were brought in last October.

According to council documents, these charges are set to rise from April 1, including disposing of large scale DIY waste and tyres.

Throwing a tyre away will increase from £2.50 to £5.

The council said it was working with Oxfordshire Environment Partnership – which is made up of the county’s six local authorities and their cabinet members – in an attempt to drive that proportion up and to ‘better understand the fall in performance’.

The council notes in its draft corporate plan, which will be seen by its cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday: “We are also driving down costs across our services wherever we can. As one of the highest performing local authority areas in England for recycling and waste management, we are saving taxpayers’ money, as it is cheaper to dispose of recycled household waste than the waste in residual bins.

“We also provide a number of waste reduction services to reduce the amount of waste we have to recycle to begin with. We have a rigorous internal energy strategy which aims to keep our costs at or below 2014/15 levels through active energy management.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman, Paul Smith, said: “There have been no reductions in HWRC sites or opening hours and we have secured a good value and affordable new contract through retendering.

“There are some increased charges for non-household waste meaning household waste remains free.

“We are expecting to receive more income through the licence and permit services we run.

“Part of this £1.5m saving is also a result of having invested in more energy efficient street lighting over recent years which will bring about a reduction in our lighting energy bill.”

Contract changes agreed in October mean that W+S Recycling continues to run the county’s seven centres.

The council’s HWRCs are: Alkerton, near Banbury; Ardley Fields, in Ardley; Drayton, near Abingdon; Oakley Wood, in Crowmarsh, near Wallingford; Redbridge, on Old Abingdon Road, in Oxford, an Stanford in the Vale, in Faringdon.

FCC runs Dix Pit HWRC at Stanton Harcourt.