Request for information on waste collected from public green spaces

Thank you for your request for information about green waste collected from public spaces, received on 11 January 2022, and apologies for the delay in responding. The request has been allocated the reference number 2022-166 and is being handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

The attached spreadsheet shows the grounds waste which was recorded as being received by NLWA from public spaces in the seven north London boroughs from 2006, which is the earliest data available to us. The figures are provided in tonnes. This does not include all waste material from public spaces, as compostable matter is often composted on site and so is not included in these data. The waste delivered comprises a mix of material including trees and bushes that have been cut down but are not suitable for composting at the parks as well as litter and non-green waste from the park teams’ operations. The waste is treated in a variety of ways including composting where possible and by sending it to an energy from waste plant where that is not possible. Some waste that could not be composted may have been sent to landfill when energy from waste capacity was unavailable. The specific approach to any individual load depends on the composition of what is delivered.

The costs per tonne for disposal of green waste (treated through composting) and residual waste (treated by burning it to generate energy or sending it to landfill) are shown in the following table. Cost information for previous years is not collected in the same format, because the way in which charging applied to boroughs changed in 2016 (this is discussed in our annual report of that year, which is available on our website here). Please let us know if you would like cost information for earlier periods.

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to raise a further information request. If you would like to complain about our handling of information requests, you can do so by emailing this email address (informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk) or using the enquiry form on our website.