"These Defra figures disguise the fact that an increasing amount of London's waste is now being incinerated by certain boroughs to avoid being sent to landfill sites"
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
London: The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has today repeated his concerns over London’s poor municipal waste management performance, following the release of England’s municipal waste statistics by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The Mayor believes that these show that even more waste is being incinerated which he considers is adding to greenhouse gas emissions.
The figures show that London is the worst performer in England and the gap between London and the next worse performer is getting bigger, according to Mr Livingstone.
While in 2006-2007 London landfilled 11 per cent less waste than the previous year, this was achieved by more waste being burned, rather than recycled or used to create renewable energy.
Paper banks help boost municipal recycling statistics
The Mayor points out that his London Climate Change Action Plan, launched in February, sets out ambitious targets to reduce emissions in London by 1.1 million tonnes through the use of technologies that will convert certain wind and waste sources into renewable fuel. This adds to the overall target of the Climate Change Action Plan of a 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2025.
Side-stepping landfill allowance trading scheme
More than eighty per cent of local authorities are collecting less waste than ever before, but the Mayor has reiterated his concerns that authorities are in fact sidestepping the landfill allowance trading scheme by allowing the commercial waste sector to collect former municipal trade waste and send it to landfill in the Home Counties.
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:
“These Defra figures disguise the fact that an increasing amount of London's waste is now being incinerated by certain boroughs to avoid being sent to landfill sites. Incineration is not a solution to our waste problems as it produces carbon emissions, which are creating climate change.
London's waste is a valuable resource, which could be recycled, composted, or used to generate clean, renewable energy. As these latest figures show, the current management of waste in London is effectively burning money and in the process contributing to the problem of climate change rather than helping to tackle it.”