The South London council claimed that there has been a 5% decline in household residual waste being collected throughout the borough in April 2009 compared to April 2008, which is equivalent to 80 tonnes less per week.
Due to the fall, Lambeth has revised its predictions for the amount of waste it will need to send to landfill in 2008/09, from 96,770 tonnes to 92,400 tonnes.
The claim comes just days after Defra published figures revealing the amount of municipal waste arisings in the UK had fallen by nearly 400,000 tonnes to the year to end September 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Doug Perry, head of waste management at Lambeth, said: “It's likely that residents are choosing not to make major purchases just yet while there is uncertainty over the economy and are being generally more careful about what they buy week to week, making sure they are not wasting food for example.
“It is also likely that more people are choosing to repair items such as clothes instead of buying new ones and throwing the old ones away, and we are also seeing more interest from people requesting advice about local swap schemes,” he added.
Lambeth recycling officers have visited residents to advise them how to cut waste and save money during the recession.
Mr Perry added: “Our message is that by following a few tips and making a few simple changes to your habits you can save money and reduce your impact on the environment. The financial cost of disposing of waste is increasing so it's important we all do our bit to keep these costs down.”
However, the council also attributed some of the fall in arisings on improving recycling rates in the borough and work on reducing packaging by supermarket chains.
A spokesman for the council told letsrecycle.com: “It is not down to one thing; it is a combination of factors, one of which is that recycling performance has increased and credit to some of the supermarkets for reducing packaging.”
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