Graphic: the eco-map of Britain

Hopes that Britain has turned into a nation of environmentalists were dealt a severe blow yesterday by an official report which found that the nation's carbon footprint was growing.

Although far more households were separating their rubbish for recycling, any benefits to the environment have been more than wiped out by a sharp rise in car journeys, a decline in cycling and a dramatic increase in commercial flights.

The findings come in the latest report on regional trends from the Office for National Statistics.

It found that the number of cars owned by British households had increased by five million to 27.8 million in the past decade. All regions have had an increase in car registration, but the North East and East Midlands have had the biggest growth, up 30 per cent each.

In the past two years alone, there has been a 3 per cent increase in distance travelled by car to 5,900 miles per person per year.

Added to this was a rapid escalation of air travel, the most environmentally damaging form of transport by far. Air passenger numbers have increased by 54 million over the past five years, with British airports now dealing with 235 million passengers annually.

Stansted, a hub for the no-frills airlines easyJet and Ryanair, has had the largest growth during the period, with more than 23 million passengers using the airport in 2006, up 73 per cent on 2001.

The airports in Liverpool, Bristol and Southampton have all had a doubling of air passenger numbers.

In contrast, cycling has undergone a sharp decline in the past decade with miles travelled by bicycle down to 38 a year per person from 43 in 1996, a drop of 12 per cent. Only London and Yorkshire bucked the trend. London has had an increase of 39 per cent in miles travelled, as commuters get on their bikes to avoid crowded Tubes and trains and the congestion charge. In Yorkshire the increase in miles travelled by bike was 22 per cent. Miles walked were unchanged over the decade at roughly 200 miles a year per person.

The picture on waste was mixed. Households have been unable to cut the amount of waste they produce despite pleas from campaigners and politicians. Figures show that families are producing an average of 23.5kg a week, just as much as five years ago.

A separate report published yesterday found that people were needlessly throwing away 3.6million tonnes of food each year. The Waste and Resources Action Programme found that salad, fruit and bread were most commonly wasted, and 60 per cent of all dumped food was untouched. The study suggested that £1 billion of food wasted was still edible. Nearly a quarter, in terms of cost, was disposed of because the “use by” or “best before” date had expired. Nutritionists say that the “use by” dates are a guarantee of quality, not of safety.

Joan Ruddock, the Environment Minister, said that the costs to the environment of throwing out good food were significant.

“There are climate change costs to all of us of growing, processing, packaging, transporting and refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin,” she said.

Recycling was the only bright spot in the otherwise bleak environmental picture, with all regions of the country reporting a significant increase in the past five years.

In England homes were recycling 27 per cent of their waste compared with 15 per cent five years ago.

East Anglia was the recycling capital with 34 per cent of all household waste recycled. Homes in the North East and London recycle least, with just 21 per cent of waste heading off to the recycling plants.

Paul Vickers, the head of regional statistics at the ONS, said that the picture was at best mixed.

“All regions are recycling more, with the eastern region recycling the most,” he said.

“But air travel is up, and we have seen a substantial increase at regional airports, and the stock of cars owned is growing steadily.”

Mike Childs, the head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said that until the Government got a grip on transport, there would be little progress on turning Britain green.

“The Government must do much more to help people live less polluting lives. This must include tougher energy efficiency standards for products and cars, greater investment in public transport, and taxes aimed at making it cheaper and easier for people to go green,” he said.

“If ministers are serious about creating a low-carbon economy they must take urgent action now.”

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