DEVON has received the perfect Christmas gift with the recycling rate reaching an all time high of 50%, thanks to dedicated residents. The percentage of rubbish recycled in the Devon County Council area is now 50.5%, according to the latest figures for April to September. That is an increase from 45.6% last year, and well above the national average of 30.9%. The 104,987 tonnes of recycled waste is the equivalent weight of 105,0001 family-sized cars. Parked end to end they would reach from Exeter to Norwich. The energy saved from 11,147.21 tonnes of glass recycled alone is enough to power one TV in every Devon household continuously for almost 24 hours, or a 100 watt lightbulb for over 704 hours for the same number of properties. Devon, which is among the top three counties in the country for recycling, has put the success down to projects such as the award winning 'Don't let Devon go to waste' campaign, improvements to the recycling centres across the county and improved recycling schemes operated by the district councils. 'Don't let Devon go to waste', which has seen the county council working with district and unitary councils to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, has helped to create a dramatic increase in recycling since 2003, when levels stood at only 22%. The best recycling areas in Devon are Teignbridge with 60.4% (55.34% not including Devon County Council's recycling centres), South Hams 59.04% (57.06% without DCC's recycling centres) and Mid Devon 53.35% (49.69% without DCC's recycling centres). Cllr Margaret Rogers, Devon County Council executive member for environment, said: 'I would like to say a big thank you to everyone in Devon for taking the time to recycle. 'It's impressive that people are showing that they're keen to protect the environment and to make Devon even greener. A 50 per cent recycling rate really is tremendous and everyone who has helped to achieve this should be very proud. 'There is still more that can be done to improve that figure still further and we can all do our bit to recycle, reduce and re-use even more.' Devon County Council Leader Brian Greenslade said: 'This is a tremendous step forward in our drive to make Devon the greenest county. Congratulations and thanks to absolutely everyone who has helped make this happen. Let's get cracking on the steps we need to take to get to a 60% recycling figure for Devon!' More waste is generated over the Christmas period than at any time of year and residents are being reminded to continue to recycle into the New Year. Residents can take real Christmas trees to their local recycling centre where they will be shredded and composted. Cardboard, cards, wrapping paper and glass jars and bottles can also be recycled at centres located across Devon.