NEARLY a quarter of all household waste put out for recycling in Hertsmere ends up in landfill, a report has claimed. The study, prepared by consumer organisation Which?

NEARLY a quarter of all household waste put out for recycling in Hertsmere ends up in landfill, a report has claimed.

The study, prepared by consumer organisation Which?, says that during 2007/2008, Hertsmere Borough Council rejected 3,361 tonnes of recycling material - 22 per cent of the total amount collected.

According to the report, entitled The Truth About Recycling, this is the highest rejection rate in the country.

It also says the authority had to fork out �178,116 to send this waste to landfill.

The council said most of the material had been rejected because it was deemed to be contaminated.

Councillor Jean Heywood, environment portfolio holder, branded the report as "misleading".

"To state Hertsmere Borough Council as having a high recycling rejection rate in 2007/08 without a full explanation of the facts is totally misleading and out of date," she said.

"The data used in the article is skewed because of a specific problem that year at the composting plant we take our green waste to.

"We worked hard with our county council to resolve the issue and we have had no green waste loads rejected since and we have never had a load of paper, plastic or cans rejected."

She added: "Our recycling load rejection rate was 0 per cent for the whole of 2008/09 and we are currently recycling at a rate of more than 40 per cent.