Man Utd top Premier League recycling table as 80% of clubs fall below England average
Man Utd top Premier League recycling table as 80% of clubs fall below England average
Manchester United have picked up a trophy before the new season has even started. New analysis from BagKraft has ranked all 20 Premier League clubs by their local authority's household recycling rate, and Trafford Council, home to Old Trafford, tops the list.
At the other end of the table, Liverpool and Everton are tied for bottom spot. Liverpool City Council, covering both Anfield and Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium, posted a rate of just 17.9%.
The gap between first and last is stark: a 40-percentage-point difference, with Trafford recycling at more than three times Liverpool's rate.
Most tellingly, 16 of the league's 20 clubs, 80% of the division, sit in council areas that recycle below the England average of 43.7%.
Only four clubs beat the England average
If Champions League qualification ran on recycling rates alone, the top five would be Manchester United, Hull City, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Manchester City.
Only the top four clubs sit above England's 2024/25 household recycling average of 43.7%.
At the bottom, Liverpool and Everton would go down alongside Aston Villa. Birmingham City Council's 20.3% is the third-lowest recycling rate recorded anywhere in England.
Biggest improvers and fallers
The year-on-year figures also show which Premier League areas are heading in the right direction.
Islington, home to Arsenal, and Hammersmith & Fulham, home to Chelsea and Fulham, saw the biggest gains, both up 2.6 percentage points.
Jon Marling, managing director of BagKraft, commented:
"A recycling bin is only as good as what goes into it. These figures show a huge gap between different parts of England, but councils and households are only part of the picture.
"At BagKraft, we see packaging as the starting point. If businesses choose paper bags that are designed to be reused and easily recycled, they can help keep materials in circulation for longer rather than creating unnecessary waste. With 80% of Premier League clubs based in areas below the national recycling average, there's clearly plenty of room to raise the game."