Great Yarmouth Borough Council recycled just 31.3pc of its waste, according to data published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The figures show that the best performing Norfolk council was Broadland, which recycled 53.3pc of its household waste.

The national average was 42.4pc. Out of Norfolk’s seven district authorities – which are responsible for recycling – three were below the average.

All Norfolk councils fell some way short of government targets. Ministers have challenged all local authorities to recycle 65pc of household waste by 2035.

All waste that is not recycled is sent to an incinerator or placed in landfill.

Great Yarmouth’s rates put it in the bottom quarter of all councils in England. 

The borough has been attempting to tackle the issue for years (Image: Mike Page)

The latest figures relate to 2023/24.

Great Yarmouth has been the worst performing in the county in every year since at least 2010/11.

A spokesman said the authority should be compared with those in other areas of the UK, with a similar housing and demographic mix, rather than neighbouring councils.

He said: “Recycling rates in Great Yarmouth compare favourably with locations with a similar housing and demographic mix.

“The council continues to work hard with residents to improve recycling rates via a number of initiatives, such as educating people on how to reduce contamination of recycling bin contents.

“This work has been targeted in a number of areas, including Cobholm and the Barrack Estate, and has seen positive results with letters and leaflets for households as part of the education process.”

Trevor Wainwright, leader of the opposition Labour group on the council, said: “We have a very transient population, certainly in some of the most deprived wards in the borough, and it’s very difficult sometimes to educate people on what to recycle.

“We need more environmental rangers to carry out the tasks and not be called from pillar to post – just to concentrate on actually getting that recycling rate up. But everything comes down to money.

Trevor Wainwright, the leader of the Labour group at GYBC (Image: Great Yarmouth Labour)

“We’ve been under serious financial pressure with our settlements over the last 14 years, so we’ve had to make cuts.”

The town, which is consistently ranked as one of the most deprived areas in the country, has implemented various initiatives over the years to encourage locals to dispose of waste correctly.

Recent efforts include bin stickers urging people to “recycle the right stuff” and inspections of waste containers.

Other Norfolk councils to fall below the national average include Norwich (38.6pc) and Breckland (39.7pc).

North Norfolk recorded 44.3pc, South Norfolk 43.2pc, and West Norfolk 42.4pc – all above the national rate but still way some short of the strongest performances in the country.

The highest rate of recycling was in South Oxfordshire, with 62.9pc, while the lowest was the East London borough of Tower Hamlets, where just 15.8pc of its waste was recycled.