RUSHCLIFFE Borough Council has recycled more rubbish than its neighbouring Notts authorities for the third consecutive year.

A total of 52.92% of all household waste collected in the borough was recycled or composted in 2008-9, according to figures recently published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

This was significantly higher than all of its county neighbours – with Broxtowe Borough Council coming closest at 40.82%.

However, Rushcliffe's improvement has only been slight and it slipped out of the nation's top 10 authorities for the first time in three years.

It was the third best performing authority in the country in 2006-7, with a recycling level of 52.18%.

Despite a modest increase to 52.38% in the following year, it was still ninth in the national recycling league.

Campaigners claim the incentive to remain among the front-runners for recycling has been stifled by Notts County Council's private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Veolia Environmental Services.

This set a target to achieve at least 52% recycling and composting levels across the county by 2020.

The £850m PFI contract, which runs for 26 years, was signed in June 2006 and with no further obligation to improve recycling rates after 2020 for the remainder of the contract, critics fear it could leave recycling rates in Notts static at 52% until 2032.

Shlomo Dowen, of campaign group People Against Incineration, has scrutinised the PFI contract in great detail and even went to the High Court so he could see some of the information Veolia wanted to keep secret.

He said: "The unambitious target of 52% means it is less likely councils will be incentivised to make it easier to recycle more.

"I think it is fair to say Notts County Council cut a pretty poor deal with Veolia from the point of view of the taxpayer."

Mr Dowen said one of the best ways to increase recycling further was to collect food waste, which is a large part of what most people throw away with their general rubbish.

At the moment in Notts it is sent to landfill or incinerators. Potentially, it could be turned into compost and bio-methane fuel.

"None of the Notts authorities collects kitchen waste. It boils down to the fact that they don't have to reach their targets," he said.

"But it also costs them to do it, and they don't have the money because they don't have adequate rewards.

"Furthermore, it is one thing to collect kitchen waste but where do the trucks go once they have collected it?

"If Notts isn't providing any anaerobic digestion facilities for it to be composted, then it is not viable."

Nigel Lee represents the environmental voluntary sector on East Midlands Regional Technical Advisory Body on Waste.

"The Veolia contract is not helpful. It more or less says you get to 52% and then you don't bother to go any higher," he said.

Jas Hundal, service director for Strategic and Environmental Services at Notts County Council, said it had secured a good deal with Veolia on behalf of taxpayers.

"Through the tendering process, the council obtained the best value for money possible and our cost per tonne for disposing of waste is one of the lowest in England," he said.

The council and Veolia also defended the 52% recycling target – which is above the national aim of 50% by 2020.

They insisted the target did not mean they would not strive for further improvement after they achieve it.

Veolia spokesman Kevin Parker said: "The Notts PFI contract runs for almost 26 years and within that timeframe we will continue to explore ways in which we can encourage recycling."

Notts County Council is known as a "disposal authority", which means it relies on the district and borough councils to collect rubbish from people's homes.

Each of these faces its own unique budget pressures which affect what type of waste they can afford to collect.

In last few years, the recession has put these authorities under extreme pressure to cut costs – and recycling budgets are not exempt from being reviewed.

Even top-performer Rushcliffe Borough Council, which recently published its Waste Strategy and Action Plan for 2009 to 2015, said that, as it has already met future targets, its focus has now switched to cutting costs and helping residents minimise the amount of waste they create.

Coun Debbie Mason, Rushcliffe's cabinet member for the environment, said: "It is important that we recognise that whilst the PFI target is 52%, the national targets are 40% by 2010, 45% by 2015, and 50% by 2020.

"We feel our current easy-to-use three-bin arrangements mean that we will continue to exceed those targets and Rushcliffe will ensure that it delivers what the customer wants."

At the other end of the scale, Bassetlaw District Council said it currently has no plans to introduce extra waste collections, despite having the lowest recycling rates in the county, at just 23.34% in 2008/09 – which is down from 24.49% the previous year.

It has considered introducing garden waste collection, which it said had the potential to increase its recycling rates by a massive 12%.

But a study concluded there would be high startup and operation costs for a "free" collection, while a chargeable service would be "unpopular" and would hinder take-up.

It also looked at the possibility of glass collections across the district, which it estimated would increase recycling by 3.6%.

But it has not yet taken the plunge because it would cost an extra £201,500 of the staff costs, vehicle and containers needed.