The Recycle for London campaign, backed by the Mayor, is encouraging residents to keep residual waste to a minimum over the festive period as it costs 25% more to dispose of it in landfill than it does to recycle it.
The campaign, funded by the London Waste and Recycle Board (LWaRB), claims that over the two weeks between Christmas and New Year, London will generate an extra 29,000 tonnes of household waste.
It estimates that 2,000 tonnes of glass is thrown out, which if recycled, equates to a carbon saving of 630 tonnes. Over 675 tonnes of tin foil and 75 tonnes of Christmas tree lights are also discarded.
Commenting on the potential savings for the city, Mayor Johnson said: If we all recycle the discarded trappings of Christmas we can save our councils a whopping 2.7 million, which could instead be spent wisely elsewhere. This makes recycling an even more attractive option, so if you are pondering a worthy New Year’s resolution, make it to help us become a less wasteful city.
London residents are also being encouraged to recycle their Christmas trees with every one of the 33 London boroughs offering a Christmas tree recycling service. The trees will be chipped and sent to be used as fertiliser. The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree will be chipped on January 5.
LGA
Last year the Local Government Association (LGA) published research highlighting the costs of Christmas waste if it is not recycled (see letsrecycle.com story). It found that if councils did not recycle the extra festive waste, collectively they could be left will a bill of 78 million.
It found that nationwide over 230,000 tonnes of festive food is collected over Christmas alongside 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging and 12,000 tonnes of Christmas trees.
LWaRB
Recycle for London is a public awareness campaign which received 5 million from LWaRB for borough support activities and campaigning for the period between 2008 and 2013.
The campaign came under scrutiny at a board meeting last week (see letsrecycle.com story) which saw councillor Daniel Moylan voice his concerns about the effect the campaign was having on the ground, stating that given the current economic climate the money could be better spent elsewhere.
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