In a report on the Labour-controlled borough's waste management service, inspectors said that the authority's recycling performance was in the bottom 25% compared to other authorities. Newham currently recycles around 3% of its household waste – down on the 2000-01 figure of 3.7%.
“The Council has committed itself to meet the government recycling target of 10 per cent of municipal waste in 2003,” the report said. “The current trend suggests that the Council will not achieve this, or the target of 17 per cent by 2004, or 25 per cent by 2005.”
The report warned that the borough is heavily reliant on its 25-year contract with the East London Waste Authority and Shanks Waste Services, and “does not appear to have a fall back position”. The borough's recycling service consists of a 17,000 household kerbside scheme and 115 recycling centres to serve its 240,000 residents.
 Newham has been ranked the third most deprived authority in the UK |
Deprived
Newham, which has been ranked the third most deprived authority in the country, has actually seen a drop in the amount of household waste generated in the borough. In the last two years, there has been a fall of 2% and 8% respectively, contrasting with the average figure for London – growth by 4.4% – and the national average – growth by 2.4%. However, inspectors warned that this trend is unlikely to continue because of new housing developments planned for the future.
Inspectors recommended that the borough should broaden the range of recyclables collected and that it should do more to raise awareness of waste issues in the borough.
“The council needs a clear targeted action plan,” said Claire Bryce-Smith, managing inspector of the London Region Inspection Service. “Levels of recycling need to be raised in order to meet government targets and more action is needed in environmental education.”
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