Moving up the hierarchy...
The NLWA and its seven constituent borough councils recognise that we need to deal with waste more effectively, both from an environmental and an economic perspective.
We are therefore prioritising waste prevention, recycling, composting and recovery over sending waste to landfill, an approach is in line with English and European waste policy. We are also aiming to get the maximum value for the taxpayer from the ‘residual’ waste that cannot be recycled or composted.
The Waste Hierarchy
Source: Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), Article 3
This approach will help us deal with our waste more sustainably, meet tough national and EU targets and avoid potentially significant fines for failing to divert the required amount of waste away from landfill. Fines (of up to £30 million per year) and landfill taxation (of up to £80 per tonne of waste by 2015) are factors that could result in higher council tax bills if not dealt with swiftly.
In partnership with the constituent boroughs we are therefore seeking to:
- achieve a 50% recycling and composting rate by 2020
- achieve a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill to 35% (of 1995 amounts) by 2020
- recover energy from 31.5% of rubbish by 2015
- contribute our share to the Mayor of London’s capital-wide goal to manage as much of London’s waste within the city as possible, working towards managing the equivalent of 100% of London’s waste within the capital by 2031. This means not sending it out to other areas as we are doing now.
While these are huge challenges, they present an opportunity for the seven boroughs and the NLWA to work together to make a decision on the future of north London's waste, which will have implications for generations to come.
Alongside this we have an existing waste disposal contract with LondonWaste Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of NLWA, who are paid to dispose of the area’s waste. This contract is due to expire in December 2014.
This milestone provides the opportunity to secure the smarter environmental solution we need.