London Mayor agrees to chair Recycling Board

The Board was announced by the Government last year with a proposed budget of £60 million to deliver funding to boost recycling and ensure London's waste is managed sustainably.

It is set to be established via an Order which is anticipated to be laid before parliament as early as June 2008.

Former Mayor Ken Livingstone refused to Chair the Board over claims it was “not the solution for London” (see letsrecycle.com story), but in a sign of the new working relationship with London's boroughs, Boris Johnson and London Councils will each appoint members to the Board.

In addition, the Mayor now aims to direct up to £24 million of London Development Agency funds, being used to improve waste management in the capital, to complement the work of the Board.

It is anticipated that the move will speed up the appointment of the board and the process by which grants will be allocated to develop recycling capacity.

Mr Johnson said: “While the capital's boroughs have worked hard to drive up recycling in London, it is abundantly clear to me that a new, co-ordinated and collaborative approach is needed to tackle this pressing issue. This is why I pledged during the election to work in partnership with, rather than against, London's borough councils, in order to massively boost recycling and reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill.

“Londoners want to be greener and recycle more, but they need to be offered more hassle-free ways to do so. Together with London's boroughs, I want to deliver new and innovative solutions to overcome present challenges. As chair of London's new Waste and Recycling Board, I will champion recycling to make London a world leader,” he added.

Councils 

Chairman of London Councils, Councillor Merrick Cockell welcomed the move.

He said: “London's local authorities have consistently argued that the capital needs a co-ordinated effort to build on the boroughs' work to improve how waste is managed in our city.

“It is only by working together that we can rise to the twin challenges of increasing recycling and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, and we are delighted that Mayor Johnson has accepted this and agreed to work with the boroughs. We look forward to working closely with him to make London an even greener city.”