London considers compulsory recycling

Council officers in London have recommended enforced recycling to improve the city’s recycling rates.

Waste bosses from Bromley and Barnet councils, who have both introduced compulsory recycling, spoke at a conference organised by London Remade. They said that introducing enforcement had resulted in a ’step change’ in their recycling rates, but added that any enforcement measures must be accompanied by a campaign to raise public awareness of the changes.

Both John Woodruff and Michael Lai said that fines for not recycling must be seen as a final resort, and added that as yet, no fines have had to be imposed.

Bromley’s recycling rate rose from 27.7% to 35% after it was made compulsory. Barnet’s recycling rate has increased by 28% since the measures were imposed.

Andrew Baker of Harrow’s borough council said that although there is a compulsory recycling scheme in the borough, the council has no enforcement policy.

Baker said: “We don’t do any enforcement to tell the truth. We find the word ‘compulsory’ in the literature works.”

Harrow’s change in waste policy was controversial with the public, not least because food and garden waste is often sent to landfill because the processing facility is working above capacity.

According to Baker, Harrow council “try to say our problem is success. We are working hard to try to find more capacity.”

He advised other authorities to consider changing their waste schemes, and said that it is important to make schemes simple, and to allocate extra resources to deal with enquiries and complaints.