Question No: 2024/3360
Question (Thomas Turrell): 10th October 2024
Please can you share progress data for waste in your five priority areas of plastics, textiles, electricals, food, and the built environment?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 15th October 2024
All boroughs report their waste collection data annually to DEFRA via the Waste Data Flow, covering the five priority waste areas from London's Circular Economy Route Map. Construction and demolition waste data are available separately through Defra’s Waste Data Interrogator tool.
In 2022-23, local authorities collected 2.8 million tonnes of household waste, averaging over 300kg per person - a 10% reduction since 2015, one of the lowest in England. Despite a high number of flats and socio-demographic challenges, London was the only UK region to maintain its recycling rate. Boroughs which expanded or changed services saw notable increases in recycling rates.
ReLondon’s waste composition dataset - Estimates of London household waste composition - revealed that around half of London’s residual waste consists of food, plastics, textiles and WEEE.
ReLondon also mapped material flows across the food, textiles and packaging supply chains in London’s food, fashion, and packaging footprint reports, providing detailed waste data on these areas.
