TWO Oxfordshire council areas are among the best in the UK at recycling, a new analysis has revealed. 

South Oxfordshire District Council has been ranked top of 67 councils in the south east and third best in the country, based on the proportion of its rubbish that residents recycle. 

Firm InSinkErator looked at data from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which found that the council currently recycles 63 per cent of its waste - way above the Government target of 50 per cent by 2020. 

Indeed all Oxfordshire councils are already far surpassing this target, according to the data. 

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Next best was the Vale of White Horse, which ranked third in the South East and eighth overall, with a recycling rate of 60.4 per cent. 

Cherwell had the worst recycling rate with 55.6 per cent but still came in the top 50 of all the UK's 353 local authorities. 

In comparison the city's near-neighbours performed far worse in the analysis with Reading only managing a recyling rate of 30.7 per cent and people in Slough recycling only 23.9 per cent of waste - the second worst in the south east. 

The company said that despite the positive results, more could still be done to cut down on the amount of waste sent to landfill. 

It highlighted the issue of food waste in particular - 20 per cent of which is still being thrown away.