In a Call to Action, the authority has urged the Government to take decisive steps to cut waste, protect households from rising costs and give councils the tools to deliver sustainable services.
The NLWA has set out five immediate priorities for ministers.
Protect residents from ‘carbon taxes’
The NLWA warned that current proposals to include Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could saddle north London boroughs with an additional £35 million a year in costs.
The authority argued that carbon charges should be borne by manufacturers using unsustainable materials, not by councils or residents.
According to recent research from Suez, the planned inclusion of EfW in ETS could drive up local authority waste management costs by around 50%.
NLWA chair, Councillor Clyde Loakes, said: “It’s the makers of products using unsustainable materials who should pay the carbon taxes, not councils, and certainly not residents.
“Government must tax the polluter and provide funding to councils so that essential services are not cut.”
Tackle the rise in battery fires
Lithium-ion battery incidents at NLWA facilities more than doubled last year, increasing from six in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
The authority is calling for strengthened producer responsibility, ensuring that battery manufacturers cover the costs of kerbside collection, fire damage and recycling.
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) warned that battery fires in the UK waste sector have reached “epidemic levels”, calling for reform to mandate universal kerbside collections for waste batteries and small electricals.
Address nappies and absorbent hygiene products
Disposable nappies and other absorbent hygiene products account for 9% of residual waste in north London – equating to 35,000 tonnes, or more than 200 million items, every year.
According to the NLWA, disposal alone costs £3.2 million annually.
Loakes explained: “The government must incentivise producers to make these products more sustainable and ensure that recycling becomes feasible via investment in recycling infrastructure that can handle this type of waste.”
Invest in UK recycling infrastructure
With forthcoming collection reforms expected to increase recycling volumes, the NLWA warned that without significant new domestic reprocessing plants, valuable materials will risk being stockpiled, landfilled, incinerated or exported to “destinations unknown overseas.”
Loakes commented: “The UK should be recycling everything here in the UK.”
The authority has urged ministers to deliver a national infrastructure strategy for recycling.
Develop a bold Circular Economy Strategy
The NLWA has called for a long-term vision beyond 2028, with a strong emphasis on waste reduction, reuse and repair.
A comprehensive Circular Economy Strategy, the Authority argues, would give councils and industry clear direction for the future.
The government’s Circular Economy Strategy is set to be released in Autumn 2025, focusing primarily on textiles, transport, construction, agri-food and chemicals and plastics.
It is being developed by the Government’s Circular Economy Taskforce which was formed in late 2024.
