The North London borough announced yesterday (Monday) that it has received 83,945 from the Waste and Resources Action Programme to visit 15,000 flats, offering advice, recycling bags and information.
 Barnet residents living in flats will be asked to use communal recycling facilities, but should escape compulsory recycling |
Barnet has said its compulsory scheme – the nation's first – (see letsrecycle.com story) has achieved a 90% participation rate in recycling rates across the borough. But residents living in flats – making up just over 10% of Barnet households – are currently exempt from the compulsory recycling scheme. This is because residents in flats use communal bins.
The council said yesterday that it would be “impossible for the council to identify which householders are recycling and which are not”.
However, all flat residents will now be told what, why and where they should recycle by environmental consultants hired by the council. They will also be reminded about on-site facilities, comprising of wheeled bins for glass, paper and cans.
Cllr Matthew Offord, Barnet's cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “We provide high quality recycling facilities for flats and the task is now to get residents to use them. The funding means we can get the recycling message to flats to encourage them to recycle as much as those living in houses.”
Behavioural Change
The grant is part of WRAP's 16.1 million Behavioural Change Local Fund, which aims to publicise recycling in local areas between June this year and 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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Cllr Offord said: “Compulsory recycling has got the vast majority of households doing their bit, mainly because of the quality of information given out and the street presence of our officers. This door-stepping project will help us crack the flat recycling nut.”
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