Brighton one of the least green cities in the UK

It looked at factors such as the percentage of all waste being recycled, the air quality score and the number of nature attractions per 10,000 people.

In Brighton 30.1 per cent of all waste was recycled in 2022, it had an an air quality score of 2.38 and 4.47 nature and park attractions per 10,000 people.

The city finished 51st out of 59 cities and had an overall green score of 49.53.

Preston Park in Brighton (Image: Andrew Gardner/The Argus)

Councillor Tim Rowkins, chairman of the council’s environment committee, said: “We are not at all surprised by these survey results. It is this situation that we are working very hard to tackle. It is ironic that our city became so ungreen under a Green administration.

“We are looking at various ways, including improving integrated travel and the introduction of more trees and more green spaces to improve air pollution.

“A review of our recycling system will soon be under way. We have already begun evaluating routes to an improved and expanded recycling service.

“Our new corporate plan details many ways in which we will make Brighton and Hove a greener as well as fairer city.”

Brighton finished above Leicester, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Sunderland and Nottingham, which came last with a green score of 43.75.

Brighton finished below London which completed the top ten least green cities.

The study, commissioned by ReliableSkip.com, acquired household waste data from WasteDataFlow, air quality data from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs and the number of nature and park attractions in each city from TripAdvisor.

Pavilion Gardens pictured in May (Image: Andrew Gardner/The Argus)

The green score was found by combining these three factors and scoring each city against each other.

Cllr Kerry Pickett, the Green group’s environment spokeswoman: “When Greens had minority control of Brighton and Hove City Council we renegotiated the council’s recycling contract with Veolia in order to challenge restrictions over what items can be collected.

“We were one of the first local authorities in the country to declare biodiversity and climate emergencies, rolling out solutions such as the city downland estate plan which opened access to the land to the public.

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"And metrics continue to suggest that measures such as ultra-low emission zones have been significantly improving the city’s air quality, meaningfully improving public health.

“While there was some progress, there is clearly a need for radical action to reverse the climate emergency.

“Greens have called for moving to weekly recycling collections, expanding water access and exploring further ways of collecting additional materials.

“We will continue to fight for active travel measures and green spaces and defend these from attacks from a Labour administration that has no plan for addressing the ever-growing climate crisis.”

Among the greenest cities in the country were Bath, which finished top, Canterbury, Inverness, Norwich, Cambridge and St Albans.