Waste collection experts BusinessWaste.co.uk have compiled a list of the fifteen best cities across the world for recycling – including some hidden gems which you may not have heard of – and five which still have some way to go…
The top 15 greenest cities in the world
1. Vancouver
City of Vancouver has increased its rate from 40 percent to over 60 percent in just over a decade, with a goal of 80 percent. The city does this by making recycling part of the circular economy and innovative schemes that reward businesses who upcycle or reuse materials.
2. Singapore City
Singapore generates an impressively small amount of landfill waste per person each year – just 307kg, compared with the average of 380kg across the rest of Asia, according to the Siemens Green City Index. It has a goal to recycle 70 percent of its waste by 2030, and has increased business participation by introducing laws which make companies responsible for the waste they use.
3. Copenhagen
Aiming for 70 percent recycling rate, Copenhagen benefits from the Danes’ enthusiastic support for waste reduction (Circular Copenhagen). Door-to-door collections make it as easy as possible for citizens, and Copenhagen is working towards becoming a zero waste municipality by 2050.
4. Helsinki
Despite struggling with waste collections during the frozen winter months, Helsinki recycles a respectable 58 percent of its waste. The city has been improving its eco credentials – including green taxis – in recent years, introducing schemes to recycle construction waste and adding a much-needed plastics recycling scheme.
5. Curitiba
Brazil’s Curitiba is environmentally focused by design. A piece in Smart Cities Connect has explored how it prioritises pedestrians over cars, has interconnected green spaces, and has a ‘green exchange’ which allows the city’s poor to exchange collected rubbish (two thirds of which are recycled) for fresh food.
6. Delhi
Despite limited resources, the city of Delhi has achieved an enormous amount when it comes to reducing waste. It has created ‘eco-clubs’ in over a thousand schools, impressing the importance of protecting the environment on young citizens and bolstering the city’s existing culture of ‘careful consumption’ and waste reduction policies (delhi.gov).
7. Los Angeles
This West Coast city is more than just film stars. Los Angeles recycles almost 80 percent of its waste according to Columbia Climate School – more than most cities in Europe. Led by a city-wide education drive and company tax concessions for recycling, LA remains fully committed to a zero waste initiative.
8. Leeds
UK’s own Leeds is impressive when it comes to recycling – around 40 percent of its waste is diverted from landfill. Its impressive approach to recycling includes the ‘Leeds by Example’ scheme which has placed over 180 on-street recycling points across the city, which have almost tripled recycling rates in the city centre to 49 percent. The scheme represents the UK’s biggest effort to improve the level of food and drink packaging recycling rates and sets an example which other UK cities hope to emulate.
9. Vienna
Vienna is unusual for keeping its waste management entirely within city bounds rather than shipping it elsewhere – and since the introduction of recycling plants in the 1980s, recycling containers for metals, plastics and glass are found all over the city. While Austria has some way to go when it comes to recycling on the whole, Vienna is improving each year.
10. Stockholm
Stockholm is an exceptional example of recycling in Europe. According to Sweden.se, 50 percent of its waste was turned into energy in 2019 and 84 percent of cans and bottles were recycled. Clothing recycling is also a huge part of Stockholm’s economy, with homegrown fashion giant H&M offering garment recycling in the city’s stores.
11. Seattle
Seattle, in Washington State, uses an app called Recycle-It allows citizens to check waste removal dates and set handy reminders, and has helped increase Seattle’s engagement with its compulsory recycling scheme.
12. Songdo
This South Korean smart city is doing revolutionary with its waste disposal system. As reported in Bloomberg City Labs, a series of underground pipes automatically collect waste and take them to a processing facility nearby, meaning its citizens can have no excuse not to help Songdo meet its recycling goals.
13. Kamikatsu
Japan’s Kamikatsu, a village isolated on the side of a mountain, is known as the ‘waste free town’ due to its remote location, locals separate their waste into a staggering 34 categories to ensure its waste reduction can be optimised without the need for costly (and environmentally-unfriendly) transportation of waste.
14. Ekilstuna
Sweden’s Ekilstuna is one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. Biofuel public transport and low-carbon power plants earn it this title – but the city’s 100 percent recycled shopping mall, Retuna, where all goods are donated by citizens and resold on, creating a truly circular economy.
15. San Francisco
Landfill disposal in the USA’s San Francisco is at its lowest rate ever, reporting that over 80 percent of its waste is diverted via reduction, reuse, and recycling schemes every year. This makes it one of the most successful cities in the world for reducing waste sent to landfill, using a mix of incentives for citizens and businesses, educational programmes and cleverly-designed recycling systems to top our list.