Boroughs fight fresh attempt at London waste authority

The umbrella organisation London Councils today released research comparing recycling performances of the boroughs to other urban areas in England.

But hitting back at London Councils, Mr Livingstone said London's recycling performance needed to be compared to other global cities – some of which are recycling twice the percentage of waste achieved in London.

He said it was “utter complacency” for London Councils to defend the status quo on waste management.

Bill
The power struggle over London's waste management comes as the Greater London Authority Bill proceeds through Parliament, which will give the Mayor stronger powers in areas like housing and planning.

Last year saw secretary of state Ruth Kelly refusing to support the Mayor's desire for a single London waste authority to be included within the Bill (see letsrecycle.com story).

But the Mayor is now backing an amendment proposed by the Labour MP for Regent's Park & Kensington North, Karen Buck, to set in place the single waste authority regardless.

London Councils
The group of London boroughs said the Mayor's call for a major shake-up of London waste disposal comes as London is “leading the way in urban recycling”.

London Councils said recycling rates released for the financial year 2005/06 (see recycling league tables) show nine of the top 10 equivalent urban authorities for recycling as being in London. It said these figures “demolishes the arguments for a single waste authority, and proves London is not failing”.

The organisation also claimed that London councils collect less waste per head than other urban authorities in England. And, it said any move to alter current arrangements would threaten progress made already.

The chairman of London Councils, Cllr Merrick Cockell, said: “These figures explode the Mayor's claims that London's waste system is nearing crisis – and comprehensively dismiss the reasoning behind the amendment tabled by Karen Buck.”

Cllr Cockell called on the Mayor to drop his call for a single waste authority and accept the government's proposal for a forum of the boroughs to steer recycling across London.

“The challenges faced in London cannot be met by one man alone, but need us all to work together in a considered and effective way,” he said.

Mayor
Responding to London Councils, Mr Livingstone said London's 21% recycling rate was half that achieved in Berlin, and that although some London boroughs are doing well, others are “recycling very little”.

The latest figures saw 22 out of London's 37 collection and disposal authorities failing their government-set recycling targets, with London as a whole performing the worst on recycling among all the English regions.

The Mayor said: “The London Councils' 'research' has trawled through the available research on recycling and all they have managed to show is that half of London councils are recycling less than Barnsley.

“We cannot go on like this – we are the major global city in Western Europe and we should be at the cutting edge of recycling,” Mr Livingstone added.