A new study has ranked Bath as the UK’s greenest city based on the percentage of recycled, reused or composted waste, air quality and the number of nature and park attractions.
Canterbury and Chester were ranked second and third in the study on the UK’s greenest cities. Inverness took fourth place and is the only Scottish city in the top ten. The study, by national skip hire company ReliableSkip.com, scored and ranked each city out of 100 based on the three factors.
The study found that the Somerset city of Bath is the UK’s greenest city, with a “green score” of 87.79. This is due to 59.2% of all household waste being recycled in Bath, along with an average air quality of 3.12, based on 2022 data, which is the joint second highest of any city. Findings also showed there are 28 nature and park attractions in the city, which is around 3.33 per 10,000 people.
Commenting on the findings, Paul Bennett, Operations Director at ReliableSkip.com, said: “While we can all do our bit to help keep the UK, and the world, green, through methods like recycling, it’s imperative that this is also enforced and encouraged in the public eye.
“This is why it’s interesting to see the difference some cities have in their waste management, with some cities doubling others on the amount they recycle.”
The study took the household waste data from WasteDataFlow, air quality data from the Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs, and the number of nature & park attractions in each city taken from TripAdvisor.
The top ten greenest cities according to the study:
|
# |
City |
% of Household Waste Recycled, Reused or Composted (2021) |
Average air quality to nearest region out of 10 (2022) |
Number of nature & park attractions per 10,000 people |
Green Score /100 |
|
1 |
Bath |
59.20% |
3.12 |
3.33 |
87.79 |
|
2 |
Canterbury |
40.90% |
3.15 |
4.53 |
87.54 |
|
3 |
Chester |
54.50% |
2.86 |
3.25 |
81.99 |
|
4 |
Inverness |
37.30% |
2.87 |
3.81 |
77.45 |
|
5 |
Winchester |
40.50% |
3.15 |
2.95 |
75.71 |
|
6 |
Norwich |
38.30% |
3.05 |
3.21 |
75.50 |
|
7 |
Colchester |
56.90% |
3.15 |
1.64 |
74.45 |
|
8 |
Oxford |
52.10% |
3.15 |
1.91 |
74.02 |
|
9 |
Cambridge |
49.60% |
3.05 |
2.10 |
73.05 |
|
10 |
St Albans |
64.20% |
3.05 |
0.81 |
71.01 |