Darren Johnson, Green Member of the London Assembly, joined Cllr Sue Luxton, GLA candidate for Greenwich and Lewisham constituency, and Green Mayor candidate, Sian Berry at the Pepys Community Forum community composting project in Deptford on 11th April.

They were there to launch the Green Party’s waste plan for London. Failure to provide proper recycling facilities has made London the worse region for recycling in the country, say the Greens. They believe that Londoners could be among the best recyclers, but only if local councils provide proper facilities and help so people can stop sending waste off to landfill, or for burning.

The Green Party’s waste plan for London pledges to work to create a London-wide waste authority to push councils to adopt a zero waste approach, to minimize waste and maximize recycling.

Sian said:"As soon as Londoners have been given the chance to recycle, or compost, they have generally got on with it, as the success of the Pepys Community Forum in Deptford shows. The reason why London has spent years being the worse region for recycling, is nothing to do with Londoners and everything to do with local authorities not doing their jobs.

"The Green Party’s priority for waste in London would be to make sure that Londoners and London businesses have the chance to recycle everything that can be recycled, with minimum effort and inconvenience. This means Londoners having weekly collections for all their recycling and kitchen waste.

"Waste is a resource and opportunity, not a problem. We shouldn’t be burying our waste in the ground, or burning it in some incinerator.

"London needs, above all, a coherent city-wide strategy for managing its waste, co-ordinated by a proper regional waste authority. Without this, individual boroughs will not be able to solve London’s waste problems by acting individually and in an unco-ordinated way.

"Until this happens, we will press local authorities to adopt a zero waste approach that uses the best of modern technologies to minimise waste and maximise recycling.

"Greens will also do everything they can to follow up the success of the public campaign against plastic bags by stopping over packaging by supermarkets and retailers. Finally, we want to work with retailers to create a ‘money back’ scheme for returning and re-using containers."

The Green Party’s Waste Plan for London

London to become a Zero Waste city, eliminating waste by:

treating "waste" as a valuable resource for reuse, recycling or composting
investing properly in modern local recycling and composting facilities so as to do away with harmful incineration and landfill
favouring products designed for long life and recycling
setting challenging targets to increase household recycling and composting to reach European levels of 80% by 2015.

Only by adopting a radical zero waste approach can London phase out dependence on landfill, as required by law, without resorting to a new generation of incinerators.

London needs, above all, a coherent city-wide strategy for managing its waste, coordinated by a proper regional waste authority. Without this, individual boroughs will not be able to solve London’s waste problems by acting individually and in an uncoordinated way.

Reducing waste

"Money-back" schemes for the return of glass bottles and other reusable containers to be introduced.

Producers to be responsible for their products (and packaging) at end of life.

All London public bodies (including borough councils, GLA, police, schools and hospitals), to use buying power to bulk buy refurbished and recycled goods.

Recycling

By 2012 all London households to get a weekly doorstep recycling collection which covers the full range of recyclable products, including paper, card, glass, cans, foil, textiles and shoes, plastic, batteries, motor oil, aerosols, mobile phones and toner and ink cartridges.
All flats to receive a similar quality home-based recycling service.
All litter bins in London’s public places to have separate compartments for paper, glass, cans and plastic.

Composting

All London households to be offered home composting bins (and instructions) for green and kitchen waste, with communal composting schemes to be set up on housing estates. Households to receive a weekly collection of green and organic kitchen waste as an alternative to home composting. By 2012 all households to be covered by composting service.
London parks to offer local composting services for garden waste (bring garden waste, collect compost for garden).

New building developments

All new developments, including commercial and public buildings, to be designed with facilities for storing separated waste until collection.

Reuse and recycling industries

Land and investment to be provided to support reprocessing plants in London for the main recyclable materials, to avoid long distance transportation and provide local jobs. London plastics reprocessing plants to be established urgently.
Reuse and refurbishment centres, for furniture and electrical goods, such as cookers and washing machines, to be open in each London locality.
Local ‘swap’ days to be held regularly.

Handling and transportation of waste

London’s future needs for reuse, recycling and composting centres to be assessed urgently so that suitable sites can be protected now from development.
Waste to be handled locally, with London becoming self-sufficient.
Water and rail transport (for waste) to have financial advantage over road. Much greater use to be made of London’s waterways, and adjacent land, for waste transport and management.

Hazardous waste

Transport of nuclear waste through London to end.
London boroughs to provide all households with clear instructions and simple arrangements for hazardous waste e.g. paints and solvents.

Incineration

No new or replacement incinerators and a strict timetable to be set for phasing out existing incineration.

Public information

Public awareness campaigns to expand, with public bodies setting far better example. All boroughs to give telephone information on how to recycle a large variety of items, from Lego bricks to metal hangers to computers.