9 February 2007
City strives to maintain its green credentials
The City of London Corporation is pleased to announce three new
recycling initiatives which should help make the streets of the
Square Mile green.
City recycling rates have improved in recent years – up from 14%
in 2004 / 05 to 18.1% during 2005 / 06, with more than 30% of all
household refuse now being recycled this year.
This rate will be further boosted with improved recycling from
rubbish collected by the mechanical street sweeping machines. The
material collected by the machines is sorted, with large items such
as plastic bottles and cans removed and sent for recycling. Dirt
and grit are collected and sent off to be used as road aggregate.
This means that up to 50% of all street litter collected on the
City streets is recycled.
Further recent recycling initiatives for the City streets
include the introduction of a suite of nine newspaper recycling
bins which have been installed at the key commuter stations in the
City – Bank, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, City Thameslink at Holborn
Viaduct and Liverpool Street.
Street sweepers in the City now have special barrows with
sections which allow separation of recyclables from general
rubbish, 24-hours a day. Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman
John Stuttard said: "The City of London has made tremendous
progress in its recycling rate, and this is testament to the hard
work by our residents, businesses and visitors in helping us to
keep the City’s streets green. "But we cannot be complacent. The
City is always investigating new ways to reduce the amount of waste
we produce and subsequently throw away."
Ends
Lesley Mair
Press Office
City of London
PO Box 270, Guildhall, London EC2P 2EJ
Tel 020 7332 1754
Mob 07785 528 453
Fax 020 7332 3076