The results put four of the 26 London boroughs among the 10 worst performing authorities in England for recycling, while nine boroughs are still recycling less than 10% of the waste the produce.
” Our knowledge of Local Authority recycling rates at present suggests that some boroughs are already recycling and composting between 3% and 6% higher than performance figures stated“
– Kate Radford, improvement centre manager at London Remade
But market development organisation London Remade stated that the figures were based on waste recycled or composted during 2003/04 and that recycling rates will have changed since then.
A spokesman said: “Since these results were collected numerous recycling schemes and awareness initiatives, including those funded by the London Recycling Fund, have been implemented. The full benefit of these schemes was not realised during the 2003/04 period but should make a dramatic impact on recycling rates next year.”
London Remade drew to attention to the fact that many of the boroughs rose by more than 4%, in many cases doubling their recycling rates. It also stated that over 70% of households in London now have kerbside recycling.
Kate Radford, improvement centre manager at London Remade said: “Our knowledge of Local Authority recycling rates at present suggests that some boroughs are already recycling and composting between 3% and 6% higher than performance figures stated.
“We are confident that the considerable investments in recycling collection and infrastructure made between 2002 and 2005 will begin to show considerable results putting London back on target to meet 2005/06 targets,” she added.
London Assembly
Elsewhere, members of the London Assembly
are threatening to lobby in favour of cutting the budget of Greater London Authorities that fail to set recycling targets. Transport for London (TFL) and London Development Agency London Development Agency
(LDA) have been criticised for failing to set clear waste recycling targets despite Ken Livingstone requesting them to do so 18 months ago.
The Mayor's Waste Strategy set a target of 25% for Londoners, but TFL this week admitted to London Assembly members that it still does not know how much waste it produces or recycles.
In a report to the Assembly's Environment Committee in April last year TFL admitted it generated undoubtedly “substantial” amounts of waste and claimed that there was “considerable scope for improvement.” A spokesperson for the Environment Committee said that it was yet to see any evidence of improvement.
Other Greater London Authority functional bodies, the Metropolitan Police and LDA, also came under criticism for poor recycling. The spokesperson said: “The Metropolitan police recycles just 6% of its waste, but neither it nor the LDA have set recycling goals.
Lobbying
Members of the Committee are now threatening to lobby other Assembly members to try and cut the budget for those parts of the GLA family that fail to establish clear recycling targets.
Darren Johnson, Chair of the Environment Committee, said: “The Mayor's message to Londoners seems to be “do as I say and not as I do.” Ordinary Londoners are being asked to recycle a quarter of their waste.
“Unless the functional bodies set clear targets, we will consider urging other Assembly Members to work with us to cut the budget of these bodies until they do. At the very least, all the bodies, including the GLA itself, should set challenging targets that reflect the amount of waste that can be recycled.”
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A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor is working together with the functional bodies to improve levels of recycling across the organisations. The core Greater London Authority has been working hard to recycle more waste and set targets to recycle 40 per cent. In the second half of 2003 we exceeded this target, recycling 45 per cent of our waste.”
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