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Peabody boss urges sector to tackle recycling rates on London estates
Housing associations and councils across London are being urged to adopt new measures to boost recycling rates among residents to meet “ambitious” targets set by Sadiq Khan.
The measures have been detailed in a new report following a two-year trial across 12 housing estates managed by Peabody. A new toolkit is set to be launched for housing providers in March.
Recycling rates on estates of purpose-built flats are generally low, according to the report, and the 12 pilot estates initially had recycling rates that were less than a third of the average for London overall.
Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of the 55,000-home landlord, said housing providers have a “pivotal role” to play in tackling the problem of a lack of recycling.
During the trial, tenants on the estates were encouraged to recycle more. Measures included: cleaning up dirty, dark bin areas; making sure bins were emptied regularly; and ensuring bins could take a full bag of recyclables.
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As a result, the overall capture rate increased by 22%, the recycling rate rose by 26% and the contamination rate fell by 24%. However all these figures were from a “very low base”, the report noted.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has set a target for councils that 50% of all collected waste should be recycled by 2025.
However, the executive summary of the report branded the target “ambitious”.
Resource London, a partnership between the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), produced the report. It said it is now working with local authorities and housing associations on the new measures – branded the ‘Flats Recycling Package’.
Mr Sarsfield said that Peabody learned a lot from the project and has already started to implement some of the recommendations.
He added: “I firmly believe that housing providers should recognise that they have a pivotal role to play in improving the existing low recycling performance of flats, and Resource London’s report should help us all to do just that.”
Antony Buchan, head of programme at Resource London, said: “Achieving waste and recycling targets in London means we all have to do our bit, and our findings show that residents are ready and willing to recycle if the conditions are right.”
