Waste Watch

Waste Watch supports successful compulsory recycling pilot

10 March 2008

Last autumn Hammersmith & Fulham Council became only the sixth local authority in the country to pilot a compulsory recycling scheme, following in the footsteps of Barnet, Hackney, Bromley, Harrow and Waltham Forest.

Like these other London boroughs, the decision to go the compulsory route was based on a pragmatic approach to reaching tough recycling targets and avoiding punitive EU fines for not keeping enough waste out of landfill.

The decision was made easier after an Ipsos-MORI survey showed that two-thirds of residents in the borough were in favour of compulsory recycling. But despite this public endorsement, any scheme that involves fining, or even prosecuting residents for not recycling can be controversial and needs the support of the whole community.

Waste Watch was asked by Hammersmith & Fulham to manage a communications campaign to support the introduction of the pilot including street properties in the north of the borough. Our job was to engage and educate residents about the changes and to increase participation, particularly among traditional non-recyclers.

Prior to the introduction of the scheme on 1 October 2007, our team of recycling promoters visited around 13,000 households distributing flyers, council letters and fridge magnets. We spoke to almost 9,000 residents on the doorstep and a further 1,000 through community outreach events, talks and roadshows during the trial.

Subsequent surveys, participation monitoring and waste and recycling audits proved our targeted approach had worked. Recycling participation in the pilot area increased from 77% to 86%, recycling tonnage increased by 500 tonnes per quarter compared to the previous year and the borough's target recycling rate of 30% is now well on the way to being met by 2010.

But vitally, the public is behind the scheme. Natalie Jones, a resident in the pilot area said, "Thank you so much for your efforts with compulsory recycling. It will make a big difference in the long run and is well worth the effort. My housemate and I are actually feeling good about paying our council tax for the first time ever!"

No one has been fined or prosecuted so far and the Council is now set to roll out the scheme borough-wide.

If you have a recycling scheme you would like us to help with, please contact Tim Burns on 020 7549 0302.