Only four London boroughs out of 32 have domestic recycling rates above the national average, an environmental waste clearance company has said.

EnviroWaste London, which operates from central London, analysed the boroughs that recycled the most during 2014/15, revealing the most and least environmentally-friendly, based on household data.

Over that period, the UK national domestic recycling average was 44.9 per cent, the company claims, and the top-performing area in the UK for recycling is South Oxfordshire with a rate of 67.3 per cent.

The majority of London boroughs are falling below these benchmarks, with four – Bexley, Bromley, Kingston and Harrow - scoring a household recycling rate above the UK average.

James Rubin, owner of EnviroWaste said: “It’s very surprising to discover that the majority of London is falling below the UK national average.

“The European recycling target rate is 50 per cent by 2020 for the UK. We’re certainly on the right path as a country but it’s evident that there are certain areas in the capital that could be doing much more.

“In our experience areas with a high population density produce larger volumes of overall waste, making it so much harder to police and manage.

“We have also found areas where there are more renters and less home owners tend to be less involved in recycling their waste."