RESIDENTS across Dorset produce more than 400kg of waste each in a year, figures reveal.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data shows that Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council collected 437.9kg of household waste per person from homes in the area in 2019-20.

In the Dorset Council area the figure was even higher at 454.1kg.

The amount of waste produced by each resident last year is heavier than four washing machines.

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy said there is an "urgent need" to completely overhaul how waste collection and disposal is approached, with more responsibility on producers to reduce packaging.

Of the waste collected from homes, 53.9 per cent was sent for reuse, recycling or composting in BCP and 58.9 per cent in Dorset.

This is above the rate for the South West, where 49.5 per cent of household waste was sent for recycling or reuse in 2019-20.

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive officer at Keep Britain Tidy, said: "Recycling rates have stalled for a decade.

"The hope is that the Environment Bill will see the crucial measures outlined in the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy actually come about.

"These include Extended Producer Responsibility, a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers and consistent recycling collections, including food waste, which if they happen will make all the difference and get us where we need to be in terms of our current goals."

She added that with a third of food produced being wasted, there was also an urgent need to reduce this type of waste.

"Ensuring young people learn to cook and value food is one aspect of the solution.

"In addition, we need to see an end to in-store promotions that encourage us to buy more than we need" she added.

Councillor David Renard, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: "We are very pleased that the management of household waste continues to head in the right direction, with kilograms of waste per person reducing.

"Now that local authorities have helped the nation get into a good position, we look forward to the introduction of extended producer responsibility and deposit return schemes so that the producers of packaging and drinks containers can start to cover the costs."