Samantha Heath, who chairs the committee, said: ‘We do not support this scheme at this time. But in order for it to be avoided, the mayor must get his act together and encourage more recycling, so that rubbish in the capital does not go to waste. Londoners must recycle more.”
She added: “We have received 21 million from the government to boost the capital’s recycling and the committee will continue to scrutinise the mayor’s waste strategy, to ensure that it is on target to reduce waste levels.”
But the mayor’s senior environmental policy advisor, John Duffy, told the committee at a meeting held on Friday that there is no way the mayor can tighten recycling targets any further. He said: “The mayor's targets are to exceed the government targets. Consultation suggests targets are quite tough as they are.”
Commenting on a GLA request to set a target at 75% participation of Londoners in recycling, Mr Duffy said: “We have had a try in Brent, where we bar-coded collections. We got a 40% participation rate. It could get up to 60 to 70%, but it can't get higher without charging.”
The mayor's waste strategy has been revised after consultation with the industry, with small alterations including changes affecting composting plans in the light of the Animal By-products Order. It is expected that the strategy will be submitted for public consultation in the first week of September.
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