The Grand Committee of the House of Lords supported the creation of the London Waste and Recycling Board and welcomed the Board's objectives of minimising waste production and increased reuse.
The approval given by the House of Lords now means that the Board , which would be in charge of an £80 million fund for the provision of recycling and waste management across 33 councils, is a step closer to being officially created under the Greater London Authority (GLA) Bill 2007.
The matter will now return to the Commons, which has already given a green light to the creation of the Board following a committee meeting held last Wednesday (July 2).
Strategy
The Lords were keen to assert that the Board would not be viewed as a “one-size fits all” approach but can offer a city-wide look at recycling and waste management.
With the intention of creating a “dramatic rise in recycling rates”, Lord Rooker explained that 22 of London's boroughs had agreed to local area agreement targets, which would result in an average recycling rate of 36% by 2010-11.
In addition, 10 boroughs have proposed targets to reduce their residual waste by 10% and six boroughs intend to double their recycling and composting rates by 2010.
Following the commitments made by boroughs, Lord Rooker was keen for inner city boroughs to be equally incorporated in the Board's plans. He said: “I myself in the past 12 months have transferred from an outer to an inner borough, and I know how much more difficult it is to recycle. It needs to improve significantly.”
Money
Concerns were raised about London's need for additional infrastructure to contend with the management of organics and food waste but the common consensus was that the provision of the £60m fund could facilitate these changes.
Alterations had been made to the way in which the funding, which excludes the £24m pledged by the mayor from the London Development Agency, would be issued over three years.
Initially the plan was to allocate £22.8m a year for the first two years followed by £14.4m in the third year of spending, however, the allocation has been changed to £19.8m, £22.8m and £17.4m to be “mindful of pressure on the board in its crucial first year,” as Lord Rooker put it.
Support
Despite these financial changes, acceptance of the Board was widespread with both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, whose peer Lord Teverson called the proposal “tough and ambitious”, welcoming the Order.
Shadow minister for food, environment and rural affairs, Lord Taylor of Holbeach said: “The advisory and coordinating role of the London Waste and Recycling Board is a sensible compromise and, like the Minister [Lord Rooker], we are delighted that London's mayor will chair it.”
“If we get this right, London can become a world leader in urban waste management,” he added.
Before the motion was agreed upon, Lord Rooker concluded: “With a fairly substantial amount of money over three years, our expectation is that [the Board] could deliver real change.”
The Order was first published at the end of June, outlining the Board's composition, procedures and auditing guidelines, following Boris Johnson's decision to take the seat of chair in the body, with Parliamentary approval required before the Board can be officially created (see letsrecycle.com story).
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