Gateway Road Reuse and Recycling Centre is now closed.
North London residents are being invited to comment on a draft strategy which aims to support a reduction in waste and shift towards a more circular economy. The draft was developed by seven councils and North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and will guide services from 2025 to 2040.
The draft strategy is the culmination of 18 months of research and collaboration. Across 12 weeks of engagement in summer 2023, residents said that waste reduction is a team effort, with a role for government, manufacturers and individuals. More than 2,000 residents took part and said that reducing carbon emissions and making environmentally friendly choices were most important to them. They also highlighted that councils and NLWA should provide accessible and easy-to-use recycling services.
Following the principles of the waste hierarchy, the draft strategy has a strong emphasis on waste reduction. The eight authorities are explicit in their demand for greater leadership from government to create the right economic and social conditions for a circular economy. Each of the strategy’s main chapters lists asks to government. These include banning unnecessary single use plastics and ensuring producers take full responsibility for the items they produce.
The draft strategy includes ambitious targets to reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of, increase the amount of recycling, and use the most circular and climate-friendly means of disposal possible.
Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, NLWA Chair said:
“The seven north London boroughs and North London Waste Authority provide some of the most extensive recycling services in the country and have invested in waste reduction activities for over a decade. Our Joint Waste Strategy builds on this foundation, setting priorities that have maximum impact and marking the pathway to a circular economy.
“Key aims of our strategy include recycling more where there is no option to prevent or reuse waste. This means investigating new infrastructure and technology, or adding new reuse and recycling schemes where possible, as we have done with mattresses, DIY waste, hard plastics and expanded polystyrene.
“We will set ambitious targets like sending zero waste to landfill, ensuring all our recycling is processed in the UK, halving the amount of avoidable food in residual waste and reusing twice as much of the materials taken to our reuse and recycling centres.
“In addition to our ongoing commitment to promotion of waste prevention, we plan to do more to influence government policy. Too much of our waste is still preventable and it is clear that only system-wide change will reduce waste at source and drive the nation towards a more circular economy.
“As local authorities, we have little control over the quantity and composition of waste, yet we have a duty to prepare for uncertainties and dispose of the materials presented to us. Following rigorous analysis and resident engagement, the Joint Waste Strategy sets out to meet this challenge.
“It’s all too easy for waste to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but the carbon emissions embedded in our rubbish represent a grave problem that urgently needs addressing if we are to meet net zero targets and protect this planet for future generations.”
Residents can learn more about the draft North London Joint Waste Strategy and complete a short consultation survey at northlondonwaste.commonplace.is/ The consultation runs for a 12-week period until it closes on Thursday 23 January 2025. Consultation feedback will be collated and used to help inform the final strategy which will be put forward for approval by all partners later in 2025.
