News from Caroline Russell: London recycling rates a trash fire

Despite growing concerns from Londoners about plastic waste and the impact on our environment, London recycling rates have stagnated, but the amount of rubbish sent for incineration is going up, reveals Caroline Russell AM.

The average household recycling rate for London in 2018-19 was 33.4 per cent, an increase of just 0.3 per cent since the previous year. The Mayor’s recycling target is for 50 per cent by 2025 but if we continue at the current rate of miniscule improvements it will take 55 years to hit this target.

Croydon managed to get the best improvement by increasing recycling by 9.4 per cent, while at the bottom of the table Haringey’s recycling rate dropped by 3.6 per cent.

In 2018-19, London’s local authorities sent 58.3 per cent of the waste they collected to incineration with Energy-from-Waste (EfW), an increase of almost 3 per cent on the previous year.

Caroline Russell says:

Recycling needs to be made easy for people to work. Stagnating recycling rates show that the current system is clearly not working for Londoners.

We’ve barely improved recycling rates this year, but conversely we’re burning more than ever. The Mayor’s own Environment Strategy says that more than 70 per cent of our household waste could be recycled.

Public feeling and concern about waste has never been higher so it’s a shame this just doesn’t seem to be a priority for the Mayor. Recycling saves money and helps cut carbon emissions, so it’s worrying to see how far we’re behind the national rates.

A full breakdown of borough recycling rates available below.