Request for information on disposal of carpets

We write further to our email acknowledging your Environmental Information Regulations request (reference 2024-231). You requested information on disposal of carpets and other textile flooring materials. Our responses to your questions are below. 

1.    How many Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) do you operate in total and out of these how many accept carpets and other textile flooring materials (underlay, rugs, mats, covers) from:

Please provide a number for each option:

a)    Residents only
b)    Commercial operators only 
c)    Residents and commercial operators

NLWA's wholly owned company, LondonEnergy Ltd, operates seven Reuse and Recycling Centres (RRCs) on the Authority's behalf. One of the RRCs – South Access Road in Waltham Forest – accept carpets for recycling. This service is provided to residents only. None of the RRCs accept carpets from commercial operators.

2.    How are carpets and other textile flooring materials managed and stored at HWRCs? 

Please select one option:

a)    In a separate sheltered container
b)    In a separate un-sheltered container
c)    Mixed in with mattresses and other bulky household waste
d)    Mixed in with residual and black bag waste

The carpets delivered by residents to the South Access Road RRC are stored in a separate sheltered container. Carpets taken to the other RRCs that don't currently accept them for recycling are stored and disposed of alongside other bulky waste.

3.    How are carpets and other textile flooring materials disposed of from HWRCs?

Please select one option:

a)    Sent for recycling
b)    Sent for landfill
c)    Sent for incineration for energy recovery (please specify type - RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) or SRF (Solid Recovered Fuel))

Carpets delivered by residents to the South Access Road RRC are sent for recycling. Carpets delivered to the other RRCs that don’t currently accept them for recycling are incinerated for energy recovery.

4.    Do you provide residents with a bulky household waste collection service, and does this service accept carpets and other textile flooring materials? 

Please answer yes or no

NLWA does not provide collection services. Bulky waste collection services in the seven north London boroughs (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest) are provided by the boroughs themselves.

5.    How are carpets and other textile flooring materials collected via the bulky household waste service disposed of? 

Please select one option:

a)    Sent for recycling 
b)   Sent for landfill 
c)    Sent for incineration for energy recovery (please specify type - RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) or SRF (Solid Recovered Fuel))

Carpets collected by the seven north London boroughs’ bulky waste collection services are currently disposed of through incineration for energy recovery.

6.    Do you collect, record and report data and information on carpets and other textile flooring materials collected at both HWRCs and via the bulky household waste service?

Please specify yes or no for each service

NLWA collects data on carpets delivered to the RRCs by residents and report on this in our regular Services Update reports, which are available on the Authority's website (https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/ourauthority/our-meetings). The most recent Services Update report was discussed at the April Authority meeting (https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/ourauthority/our-meetings/reports-authority-meeting-25042024).

7.    If yes, is this data and information broken down by material type and recorded using the government database WasteDataFlow? 

Please answer yes, no or not applicable

Yes, data on the tonnages of carpets recycled is being recorded for WasteDataFlow.

8.    Does your authority have plans to revise how carpets and other textile flooring materials are collected, stored and/or disposed of in the next 12 months? 

Please answer yes or no

Yes.

9.    If yes, please give details about how you plan to revise these processes. 

Following a successful initial trial at the South Access RRC, we are in the process of rolling out carpet recycling at the Hornsey Road and Summers Lane RRCs. We will continue to monitor the demand for the service and will consider rolling it out to other RRCs in the future.

10.    What are your authorities’ biggest challenges in accepting and processing carpets and other textile flooring materials?

Please select from the list below

a)    Storage space and bulky nature of materials
b)    Limited recycling and disposal options
c)    Cost of processing these materials
d)    All the above

All the above.

11.    Where possible, please provide URLs for pages on your website which provide relevant information about HWRCs, a bulky household waste collection service and/or any other resources relating to the disposal of carpets and other textile flooring materials. 

Please see the URLs below.

https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/news/carpet-recycling-rolled-out-north-london-after-trial-success

https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/places-to-recycle

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for an internal review, which should be submitted within two months of when you received our response to either informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk or enquiry form quoting the above reference.

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or via their online portal. The Information Commissioner will not usually accept complaints before a review has been completed.