The 2025-26 budget to pay for the cost of managing the recycling and waste thrown out by two million residents was agreed today at North London Waste Authority’s (NLWA) public meeting at Camden Town Hall in Kings Cross, London.
NLWA is the public body which serves Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest councils. NLWA is governed by fourteen members, with each borough represented by two democratically elected councillors. Through NLWA, the boroughs share resources and collaborate on waste and recycling services, which increases economies of scale, reducing the cost for council taxpayers.
NLWA’s budget has been set at £98.5m for 2025-26. This includes an £81.1m levy for the boroughs to pay for recycling and waste disposal services, which equates to less than 80p per week per resident.
The levy also includes £6.3m to operate seven reuse and recycling centres, where residents can drop off items such as busted electronics, old mattresses, and unused paint.
NLWA will fund the non-levy part of the budget through balances of £4.4m, non-household waste charges of £11.1m, and household waste charges of £1.9m. Overall, NLWA’s budget is 4.9% higher than the previous year.
The 4.9% increase is due to factors including the financing and operating costs for the newly opened advanced recycling facilities at Edmonton EcoPark, and the increased cost to maintain the 1970s energy-from-waste facility, also at the EcoPark. NLWA must ensure that the facility can keep operating for as long as possible while construction of the state-of-the-art replacement proceeds. Sending north London’s waste to third party providers would increase the budget significantly and be far worse for the environment.
Members have also agreed to continue to fund NLWA’s work on the development of carbon capture and storage at Edmonton Ecopark as well as NLWA’s extensive waste prevention programme. This includes NLWA’s groundbreaking education programme for north London school children, now hosted at a new community and education centre at the EcoPark, as well as grants worth a total of £250,000 for local organisations working to reduce waste and restore the environment.
Following the introduction of the new Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging legislation, NLWA will receive £14.5m from the government this year. With council budgets having suffered significant cuts to funding over the last 15 years, NLWA has used £6.27m from these funds to reduce the levy for the boroughs. The remainder will be transferred to NLWA’s reserve fund.
The reserve can help fund multi-year circular economy initiatives such as supporting the development of repair skills, enhancing the reuse offering at reuse and recycling centres, and increasing the range of materials accepted for recycling.
