Redbridge's rubbish recycling record - Wanstead & Woodford Guardian letter 15.12.08

Dear Mr Yeatman

The Green Party figures quoted in your newspaper of December 4 – which Councillor Mark Aaron refers to as being out of date (Guardian, December 11) – were those that were available to it at the time of writing.

However, compared to this minor error on our part, what is quite disturbing is that Mr Aaron is proud to boast a 7.8% composting waste rate for the borough of Redbridge.

The Greens have been campaigning for a fully integrated and co-ordinated national waste management scheme for almost 40 years, of which re-cycling is just one part. We have been trying to educate individuals, schools and businesses to understand the principles of the waste management cycle: reduce (the need for unnecessary goods & packaging), re-use (goods & packaging where possible), repair (whenever possible mend goods, instead of merely discarding them) then recycle (including composting) before dumping what remains for landfill.

In view of this and the fact that the ‘recycling’ rates of many other European countries far exceed ours, especially in light of the need for at least a 90% reduction of all waste, the government’s national strategy in general and that of the London Borough of Redbridge in particular is, despite the hard work of some of its employees, quite frankly, a load of old rubbish.


Yours sincerely

Ashley Gunstock
Leading Spokesperson
The Green Party - Redbridge