Lewisham bottom of the heap on waste

4.25.00pm GMT Mon 18th Jan 2010

Cllr Chris Maines illustrates Lewisham's 16% against Lib Dem authorities' 31.5%

London's Wasted Resource, Mayor Boris Johnson's waste strategy launched today (18th January) is a wake up call to Lewisham, a council which manages to recycle only half the rate that most other London Borough achieve according to Lewisham Liberal Democrat Cllr Chris Maines.

"The strategy sets out an achievable target to get 45% of municipal waste recycled by 2015, sadly in Lewisham we are struggling to get 15%. The difference is that there is no drive or ambition in Lewisham to dramatically improve these rates." says Cllr Chris Maines.

Cllr Chris Maines believes that a Liberal Democrat controlled Council would prioritise action to clean up the environment, reduce waste and increase recycling.

"Many Lewisham residents, who live in flats, do not have doorstep recycling and we will address that problem immediately," claims Cllr Maines the Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate. "We need to remove more from the waste stream. In Lewisham we only recycle 7 materials, there are 18 materials which could be recycled. We also need to provide receptacles on the street and in parks for paper and glass".

"The average recycled by Liberal Democrat councils across London is over 30%, double the Lewisham rate." added Cllr Maines.

Lewisham Council has experienced major problems with waste collection in the current year, failing to reach recycling rates and sending 25% more material to land fill sites than expected.