Mayor to draw up case for single waste authority for London

London Mayor Ken Livingstone originally revealed his desire for the waste disposal requirements of all 33 London boroughs to be managed by a single authority in his draft Municipal Waste Management Strategy in 2001.

”We're just starting to put together an environmental and business case for a single authority, which could cover waste disposal for all 33 boroughs. “
– Katherine Higgins, GLA
The Mayor's full waste strategy was published in September 2003, pledging to look into forming a joint authority from London's 12 unitary authorities and four existing joint waste disposal authorities – the North London, West London, East London and Western Riverside Waste Disposal Authorities.

The Mayor's policy officials are now about to begin putting together the case for a single waste authority, setting out the environmental, social and economic benefits of an authority so that they can then consult with stakeholders and central government.

Katherine Higgins, principal policy advisor on waste for the GLA, told letsrecycle.com: “We're just starting to put together an environmental and business case for a single authority, which could cover waste disposal for all 33 boroughs, not just the four statutory waste disposal authorities.”

Once the business case is ready, she explained that stakeholders would be consulted for their views on the proposals, before government approval is sought. Ms Higgins said arrangements for a single waste authority could potentially come to fruition once the boroughs had dealt with their recycling targets for 2005/06.

Strategic
In his strategy, the Mayor said he was “unconvinced” that London's waste could be managed sustainably through the current situation, as new recycling and waste management facilities are “not being built strategically”.

The strategy said: “It is proposed that a single authority for London is formed with the responsibility for transferring, reducing, reprocessing, treating and otherwise disposing of waste.” The suggestion was that responsibility for waste disposal could be transferred to the Mayor, with waste collection remaining the responsibility of the individual boroughs.

“Waste disposal contracts could be assigned to the single London Waste Disposal Authority, and charges would be levied on a per tonne basis,” the strategy said.