LIB DEMS LAUNCH 3-POINT PLAN TO TACKLE LIVINGSTONE'S 'MISERABLE' RECYCLING RECORD

12.01.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 25th May 2005

At Mayor's Question Time later today, London Assembly Liberal Democrats will put forward a 3-point plan for Ken Livingstone to immediately implement to improve recycling in London.

The most recent figures show that London households recycle only 11% of their waste, the lowest rate of all English regions. The Lib Dems will demand that it is time for the Mayor to lead by example and set a proper standard for Londoners to follow.

London Assembly Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, Mike Tuffrey will call for:

· Newspaper recycling facilities at every London Underground station together with collection points for containers such as tins, glass plastic and batteries at principal tube stations

· Secure recycling points in all the Public Squares that he controls, including Trafalgar Square

· Paper recycling bins on all London buses

Lib Dems will today also reveal that although up to 80% of the rubbish collected on the Tube in the morning peak is recyclable, London Underground's present recycling rate stands at only 27%.

Mike Tuffrey said:

"When it comes to recycling, London is lagging behind. Ken Livingstone has set targets for London Councils to improve their recycling rates but has done very little to get his own house in order. It must be a question of 'do as I do', not, 'do as I say' when it comes to recycling.

"With newspapers making up the vast majority of waste on the Tube, it is an outrage that there is no safe paper recycling scheme in operation already. With the Mayor set to roll out another free newspaper at Underground stations, the situation looks set to get worse.

"Unless recycling is made easier and more convenient, then London will remain at the bottom of the recycling pile. It is time that the Mayor threw down the gauntlet to other organisations by setting the lead.

"Providing recycling facilities on the Tubes, buses and public places would promote recycling and encourage both public and private sector to raise their environmental game."

ENDS

Notes to editor:

Mayor's Questions Time will be held from 10am on Wednesday 25th May 2005 at City Hall.

· Liberal Democrats are calling for separate newspaper collection points to be added at all Tube stations where bins are currently provided. At stations where bins have been removed as a security precaution Lib Dem call for the separation of newspapers during collections by station waste operatives.

In answer to Mayoral questions on recycling rates on the underground, Ken Livingstone said that of the 80% of Underground waste that could be recycled, only 27% actually was:-

London Underground Recycling Rates

Question No: 605 / 2005

Mike Tuffrey

What proportion of the total waste collected by Metronet and Tube Lines is recycled?

The LU Environment Report (which is publicly available on the Tube website) shows that 27% of solid waste was recycled in 2003/04. This includes LU, Metronet and Tube Lines. It should be noted that Tube Lines undertakes waste management on behalf of the whole LU Group.

London Underground Newspaper Recycling

Question No: 606 / 2005

Mike Tuffrey

Can you provide figures on the amount of newspapers collected as waste by Metronet and Tube Lines and the proportion of the entire waste collected that this represents? What proportion of these newspapers are recycled?

In the morning peak, newspapers form a very high percentage of the waste recovered from trains and stations. Recent studies show that this can be up to 80% of items recovered. Tube Lines are responsible for waste collection on the whole LU system and have been exploring mechanisms for the segregation and recycling of this material. A pilot scheme has been running for a couple of months and the data is being collected and reviewed. However, the detailed figures you request are not available, though one outcome from the pilot may be the collection of more information. 

· In London, the Mayor is responsible for municipal waste strategy and sets recycling targets. The boroughs are the collection and (since GLC abolition) the disposal authorities.

The Table below was published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster in March 2005.

It shows that:-

· London is the worst performing and worst improving region out of the nine regions of England for recycling and composting. In terms of improvement its rate has only improved by 3% since 2001/02 whereas all other regions have improved by at least 5%.

· The average recycling and composting rate in England in 2003/04 was 19%. The average recycling rate in London in 2003/04 was 11%

Full details can be found in Table 2:-

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/bulletin/mwb-intbull-20032004.xls

Management of municipal waste 2001/02 to 2003/04

Recycling/Composting Figures

Region 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 % increase since 2000/01

South West 19% 22% 25% 6%

East Midlands 18% 20% 24% 6%

South East 19% 21% 24% 5%

East Midlands 15% 16% 20% 5%

North West 11% 13% 18% 7%

West Midlands 11% 14% 17% 6%

North East 7% 10% 16% 9%

Yorkshire / Humberside 11% 13% 16% 5%

London 8% 9% 11% 3%

England 14% 16% 19% 5%

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Source publication: Municipal Waste Management Survey, Published March 2005

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/index.htm