Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today (Thursday, 11 September) began his role of Chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board at its inaugural meeting in City Hall, marking a new dawn for waste management in the capital. The eight-member board, was set up to bring together the Mayor, the boroughs and others involved in managing the capital's waste, with the key aims of boosting London’s recycling rates and reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill.

At an extremely productive and positive meeting the Board agreed to fund a twelve-month Recycle for London campaign. The campaign encourages Londoners to recycle more and provides the information to make it easier for them to do so, building awareness and promoting behavioural change.

In his opening address, the Mayor outlined how he envisages the Board as a key opportunity to work with London's borough councils and said that he was confident that a ‘crack team’ had been assembled to tackle the pressing issue of how the capital's waste is managed and disposed of.

Setting out his visions for the Board the Mayor announced that he will be preparing a new Municipal Waste Management Strategy that will set out his expectations in detail. He reiterated how he wants London’s recycling rates, both in the business and domestic sector, to increase dramatically and that, with the Board members and the commitment of £1.5m for the Recycle for London campaign, he will set out proposals to make recycling in the capital easier and more convenient.

The Mayor highlighted how he wants the Board to place a greater emphasis on the opportunities that waste brings to tackle climate change, referencing the development of technologies that deliver carbon savings instead of depending on the traditional and harmful methods such as landfill and incineration. He repeated his desire to use advanced technologies such as anaerobic digestion to capture the potential for renewable energy.

Commenting on the meeting, the Mayor said: “I have consistently said that boosting the capital’s recycling rate and sending less waste to landfill is a top priority for my administration and today’s meeting was evidence of that commitment. The meeting marked a new direction in the manner in which City Hall addresses and approaches this complex environmental challenge and, unlike the previous administration, it was mutually encouraging to sit down and discuss this serious issue with London Councils.

"I am confident that this Board is focused on spearheading the fight to drive up recycling and how we manage and dispose of our waste in the capital and I look forward to leading this motivated and highly experienced team in achieving innovative solutions to tackle this pressing issue.”

LWaRB Board member and Chairman of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Daniel Moylan, said: “It is only by everyone working together that any real impact will be made on boosting recycling and reducing the waste being sent to landfill. It is also important that we develop a co-ordinated approach building on the boroughs’ work to improve how waste is managed in our city.

“The Board will help London rise to this challenge by leading the campaign to increase recycling in the capital. The year long Recycle for London initiative is the first of the many steps the Board will be taking to tackle the waste London produces.

“I believe that the members of the Board will provide an ideal balance of strategic, local and private sector experience and by harnessing their talent, we will ensure that London sets an example for other cities to follow.”