Ken Livingstone announced earlier this week he would be sending a senior advisor to the European Commission because some of the capital's local authorities were side-stepping LATS. (see letsrecycle.com story)
” The mayor’s time would be better spent supporting the boroughs’ efforts and initiatives instead of continuously undermining them“
– Cllr Daniel Moylan, London Councils
This has been completely denied by Councillor Daniel Moylan, who heads the environment committee of lobby-group, London Councils.
“Bogus figures”
He said the mayor was “using bogus figures” to “embarrass the government into giving him what he wants” – a single waste authority for the capital.
The row began when Mr Livingstone's advisors told an influential parliamentary committee that he believed some boroughs were seeking loopholes in LATS and sending municipal waste to landfill via private contractors.
If this was the case, it could save them money because under LATS, they are hit with 150 fines for every tonne of biodegradable waste they send to landfill above their ever-decreasing yearly limits.
And, as the mayor claims, it would mean government statistics are “misleading” because they suggest that municipal waste going to landfill is falling. (see letsrecycle.com story)
However, London Councils has slammed the mayor's “evidence” and Cllr Moylan has said the mayor's arguments “are undermined by his own figures”.
He said that the mayor's figures show an increase in commercial waste sent to landfill, which is far greater than any reductions in the amount collected by London’s boroughs. So, Cllr Moylan said, the two statistics cannot be linked.
He added: “London’s boroughs are meeting all their legal obligations – and rising to the twin challenges of reducing waste sent to landfill and improving recycling. The mayor’s time would be better spent supporting the boroughs’ efforts and initiatives instead of continuously undermining them.”
Waste authority
London Councils supports the government's stance in refusing to grant powers for a single waste authority and has hit out at the mayor for his dogged attempts to force a u-turn.
Cllr Moylan said: “The mayor knows that his latest publicity stunt aimed at finding a justification for a single waste authority will not stand up to scrutiny.
“The boroughs are caught in the middle of a row between the government and the mayor in his attempt to gain control of waste disposal powers in London,” he added.
Mayor's response
Responding today to the London Councils claims, John Duffy, Mayor's environment director said: “It comes as no surprise to see London Councils trying to play down that large amounts of London’s rubbish is going to landfill sites in the home counties via the private waste sector. Cllr Moylan says that it is not the case that this is happening, yet as chairman of Transport Environment Committee in December 2004 his committee instructed lawyers to look at this very issue.
“Contrary to Cllr Moylan's claim that these are bogus figures, they are in fact figures from the Government, which are provided to them by the Environment Agency and the London boroughs. Cllr Moylan says that London is rising to the challenge of improving recycling, yet London is the worst region in the country for household and municipal recycling and gap between how London and how other regions are performing has widened, not closed.
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“The mayor wants a single waste disposal authority not for political ambition, but because the existing structure cannot manage London’s waste properly. Perhaps if London Councils placed less of their energies in flouting rules and finding loopholes we would not be having this debate,” Mr Duffy added.
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