What a Waste!

2.05.19pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 9th Sep 2006

Recycling opportunity missed in Brick Lane

According to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Tower Hamlets has come 2nd bottom nationally in the amount of waste it recycles. In the year ending March 2005, Tower Hamlets managed to recycle a mere 7.35% of its waste compared to the national target of 25%.

The failure of the Council to ensure that more of the Borough's waste is recycled is a scandal. The Council's failure to promote and facilitate recycling is madness for the planet but especially insane for a place like Tower Hamlets that is situated on the flood plain of the Thames. We cannot afford our precious green spaces to be used for landfill, and our air should not be filled with the toxic by-products of incinerated rubbish.

Liberal Democrat Councillors in Tower Hamlets are campaigning for more frequent and more regular collections of waste materials for recycling, including better provision for the composting of garden and kitchen waste, and facilities to encourage commercial premises to recycle their waste products. Weavers Ward Councillor Tim O'Flaherty commented: "It is only through greater awareness and through the provision of facilities that are simple and convenient to use, that we can get Tower Hamlets off the bottom of the list of poorly performing councils and improve the environment for everyone".