Council report states Enfield is expected to have higher recycling rate than six other boroughs on North London Waste Authority, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter
A recycling truck outside Enfield Civic Centre (credit Enfield Council)
Council chiefs in Enfield are forecasting an uptick in the borough’s recycling rate amid ongoing efforts to boost awareness of the issue among residents.
Provisional figures indicate the proportion of household waste recycled in Enfield was 34.2% in 2022/23 – up by 3.3% on the previous year.
A report by civic centre bosses states that Enfield is expected to have a higher recycling rate than the six other boroughs that form part of the North London Waste Authority – Barnet, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest – which are forecasting an average reduction of 1.8%.
Although the official figures have yet to be published and are awaiting verification, the report states that the percentages “are unlikely to change significantly”.
During 2021/22 only 30.9% of the borough’s household rubbish was recycled, with officers blaming the “huge impact” of the Covid-19 pandemic for the drop in performance.
The council has since made efforts to boost recycling rates in blocks of flats and reduce waste “contamination” – which happens when the wrong items are placed in recycling bins – in a bid to increase performance. Every 1% of refuse diverted to recycling saves the civic centre between £85,000 and £95,000 per year.
Jon Sharkey, head of public realm services at the council, said the work on cutting contamination was the “main driver” behind the expected increase in recycling.
Speaking on Tuesday (24th) during a meeting of the council’s environment and climate action scrutiny panel, he said work was now underway to make the authority’s web pages on recycling clearer following feedback from residents that they were “very text-based”, difficult to read and understand, and that it was hard to locate the information they wanted.
He added that the council had redesigned the pages to include more photos showing which items can be recycled, and it will hold workshops in libraries to get feedback on the new proposals.
Officers are also in the process of making the web pages easier to navigate, and have created social media posts and videos to help get the message across to residents.
Under questioning from panel members, officers said they were trying to “reinforce” the message that Barrowell Green Recycling Centre operates an appointments-based system where people book online before they go, explaining that it helps to manage the flow of traffic during busy periods.
Questioned on whether this deterred people from making an impulse visit to the centre, they said staff are able to book slots for people who turn up without having arranged an appointment.
Officers told councillors they are working with the government on initiatives to reduce the amount of waste produced in the first place for items such as packaging.
They added that they are in a position to begin offering services to businesses that are set to face new obligations to recycle food waste separately from 2025.
Councillors heard that residents are now able to report missed bin collections immediately, whereas before they had to wait until after 4pm on the day of collection. Director of environment Doug Wilkinson said the council had “really driven down” missed collections following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Panel members proposed a range of means to boost engagement with residents, including providing clearer information on recycling loose plastic bags and placing suggestion boxes in libraries to gather residents’ views on the service.
https://enfielddispatch.co.uk/enfield-boasts-highest-recycling-rate-in-north-london/
