LBCs will get more options over rubbish

29 October 2009

London mayor Boris Johnson this week promised to tear down barriers preventing local waste partnerships in the capital from switching to more sustainable and economical methods of waste management.

The mayor’s office told Surveyor that Mr Johnson’s municipal waste strategy, due out later this year, would address problems currently preventing councils and their waste partners from switching away from landfill to non-incineration waste-to-energy technologies.

A report published by the London Assembly’s environmental committee on 28 October urged Mr Johnson to take swift action over London’s waste ‘time bomb’, and warned the continued use of landfill sites outside the capital was no longer viable.

Responding, a spokesman for the mayor’s office said: ‘The mayor’s draft waste strategy for London is published later this year, which addresses many of the issues contained in this report.’

The committee’s report claims the capital’s residents and businesses produce 22mt of waste per year. If recycled effectively, the members report, that is enough to generate electricity for two million homes and heating for 625,000 families.

Yet most of London’s waste is still dumped in landfill sites outside the capital.

The committee reports councils have hindered the switch to low carbon waste-to-energy projects through the use of long-term contracts, preventing firms offering ‘eco-friendly’ services from obtaining waste material.
It also found that planning rules, and public opinion, often block moves towards more sustainable projects.

‘We know that currently, 75% of London’s household waste is either landfilled or incinerated, while around 90% of municipal waste could actually be reused, recycled or used to generate “greener” energy,’ the mayor’s spokeswoman said.

Mr Johnson’s office estimates that switching to waste-to-energy programmes could also save London £100m in collection and disposal costs.

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