Who runs London

Greater London Authority: made up of elected mayor, London assembly and has a permanent staff of 600 individuals The Mayor sets the vision for London, champions improvements in the city ,develops strategies and policies and encourages and backs action to realise that vision. Boris Johnson is the current mayor of London The London Assembly looks after the best interests of London and Londoners by monitoring the Mayor and investigating the issues that matter. London Boroughs: The London boroughs run public services in each borough, working closely with the Mayor on London wide and local initiatives to improve the capital. Central government: liaises with London on policies and initiatives via the Government office for London

Londons plans for its waste

The Mayor has two strategies for waste in London, the Municipal waste strategy, dealing with household waste and business waste which is dealt with by the local authorities and would be utilised till 2031. The Mayor has a legal obligation to provide this. There is also the business waste strategy for dealing with Londons commercial and industrial waste, and construction, demolition and excavation waste (waste collected and disposed of by waste operators under private contracts with businesses). This waste alone, from shops, restaurants and offices, industrial processes, construction and demolition sites, makes up 80 per cent of Londons waste - 16 million tonnes a year. The Mayor does not have a legal obligation to provide this.

Municipal waste strategy:

Campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of the value of reducing, reusing and recycling waste setting a greenhouse gas emissions performance standard (EPS) for Londons municipal waste management programmes to boost Londons recycling rate funding to support the development of new waste management infrastructure in London programme of action for making London a clean and pleasant city to live in and visit leading up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond

Business waste strategy:

business support programmes that help businesses understand the financial and commercial opportunities in waste reduction, reuse, recycling and reclaimed materials helping businesses to increase their access to recycling services and reducing barriers to waste for reuse, recycling, composting and energy recovery strategic investment to stimulate the development of new waste management infrastructure within London

 using the planning process in London to drive resource efficiency improvements in the construction and demolition sector

Aims of the London Waste and Recycling Board

Created in 2007 and has the following aims: encourage the production of less waste promote an increase in the proportion of waste that is reused and recycled encourage the use of methods of collection, treatment and disposal of waste which are more beneficial to the environment in London

What is London doing to help its residents reduce, reuse and recycle?
Reduce:
Three top tips on the website for reducing waste, it aims to reduce waste by finding smart ways to cut down on disposing waste. For example it talks about the three top waste producers in an average home. Over 50% of waste produced by a family with a baby comes from nappies so it advises families to switch to real nappies for some occasions or even permanently to save money and waste. The website also talks about using reusable plastic bags and nylons for shopping trips to minimize the amount of plastic bags being thrown away and also to save money. Food waste is also talked about and the website states that about 50 worth of good food and drink is thrown away by the average British family every month. Not only is this expensive and wasteful to the family and the environment it is also dangerous to the environment as well as the food waste is taken to landfill sites where it decays and releases harmful methane which is the most potent greenhouse gas.

Reuse:
The website contains a lot of useful tips for people wanting to reuse items in London: Online reuse networks: a collection of websites that is for people wanting to swap or give away unwanted items.all free. Free to join Furniture: car boot sales, private ads, donations etc. Clothes shopping networks or swishing: swapping clothes amongst friends, colleagues or likeminded individuals, throwing a clothes swap party. Computers: take back schemes, reuse and recycling schemes. A number of organisations in London will take old computers and IT equipment, clean it, refurbish it and pass it on to charities or others who may not be able to afford a new computer. Some also operate for printer cartridges etc. Mobile phones: as many as 15 million old mobile phones lie redundant in UK businesses and homes. They contain toxic components so it is therefore important to recycle them. A number of schemes operate in the London area to recycle and reuse phones. An example is the fones for safety which reprograms donated mobile phones to be able to dial 999 only and gives them to victims of domestic violence Car boot sales: about 30 are run every week in London and sellers cam make up to 100 in a day for their old unwanted items, provided theyre in good working condition.

Charity shops: donate to charity shops or buy from charity shops to support them

Recycle:
Londoners saved over 30 million last year by recycling according to the website Londoners can now recycle glass, paper, cans and plastic bottles almost wherever they are in London, and its getting easier to recycle wider materials like batteries and clothes Approximately 80 per cent of Londoners now have services collecting recyclable materials from their home in a bag, box or wheelie bin. Reuse and Recycling Centers - most boroughs have larger sites where you can take your recyclable materials that are not collected as part of your recycling collection from home. Some boroughs also collect other materials for recycling from the home, such as green garden waste, cookers and fridges

Advantages and Disadvantages of incinerator technology

Advantages:
Modern incinerators reduce the volume of the original waste by 95-96 percent Creates RDF (refuse derived fuel) According to the New York Times, modern incineration plants are so clean that "many times more dioxin is now released from home fireplaces and backyard barbecues than from incineration Frees up space in landfills Hygienic, better than living near a landfill which is an eyesore and vermin magnet saves a lot of money on transport of waste to landfills and thus also the carbon footprint that such transport leaves behind relieves pressure on land in urban areas

Disadvantages
The plants require skilled personnel for operation and continuous maintenance. Costly

Household recycling rates

Trends over time

England
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

England

Trends from borough to borough

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1999/001,2 2000/011,2 2001/021,2 2002/031 2003/041 1998/991,2 City of London Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley

2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/2011

Trends across the UK

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2002/031 2000/011,2 2001/021,2 2003/041 1998/991,2 1999/001,2 2010/2011 North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

East

Overall recycling rates in London are slightly better than other parts of the UK, however there are big differences in recycling rates from borough to borough. For example recycling in Newham is the lowest in the city at 15% in 2010/2011 and in the borough of Bexley the recycling rate is 51%. This shows a wide range of recycling rates in borough in London