London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

3.13. London Waste Action (LWA) was formed in 1997 by the Association of Local
Government and London First, to raise the profile of sustainable waste management and
improve waste minimisation and recycling in London. A company with a board including
public sector, private sector and NGO representatives, one of LWA’s main roles is
allocating the London Recycling Fund. The fund is mainly applied to assist waste
authorities meet their statutory recycling targets. LWA also facilitated dialogue between
businesses, the public and local authorities in the lead-up to the Mayor’s Municipal
Waste Strategy.
3.14. London Remade was formed in 2000 to build on the success of LWA in improving
recycling collection rates by stimulating use of the resulting materials. Like LWA it is
constituted as a company with a public and private sector board. London Remade
facilitates the reprocessing of recyclables into materials of an acceptable and consistent
quality and facilitates the use of these materials (and products made from them) by
London businesses and public sector organisations. London Remade’s objectives and
activities align strongly with WRAP’s national programmes.
3.15. London Remade also administers the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code, which now has
320 members including small and large businesses, NGOs, London Boroughs, other
public sector organisations such as schools. The Code requires businesses and public
sector organisations to sign up to a staged set of commitments to procuring recycled
materials and products, in a drive to stimulate local markets for London’s waste
materials.
3.16. The London Development Agency (LDA) has a key role in promoting sustainable
economic development in London and through its SRB programme has provided £5.4
million funding to London Remade from 2000-2004. The LDA draft economic
development strategy Sustaining Success: Developing London’s Economy, is a revision
to the existing economic strategy and aims to integrate economic, social and
environmental objectives. Consultation on the draft economic development strategy
closed in April 2004,. The draft strategy’s first goal, investment in infrastructure and
places, includes specific actions to:
• (4d) Take action to encourage developers and all businesses to adopt
environmentally friendly goods and services.
• (4e) Support the adoption of sustainable construction and design and address the
strategic location needs of waste, recycling and other environmental industries.
3.17. The LDA also commissioned the report Green Alchemy, Turning Green to Gold: Creating
Resource from London’s Waste (November 2003) as part of its sustainable development
function. This examined possible ways that interventions in resource efficiency and
recycling could help to achieve the LDA’s wider policy goals such as wealth and
employment creation, social progress and environmental improvements. The report
identified market development opportunities for paper, organics, glass, WEEE, wood,
tyres and ELVs. It concluded that WEEE and ELV reprocessing should be given the
highest priority in London, based on factors such as the strength of regulatory drivers,
job creation potential, amenity effects and the amounts of land required.
3.18. London First is a business membership organisation supported by over 300 of the
capital’s major businesses and public organisations. It acts as a voice for London
business in the sustainability debate and has commissioned research on London’s
ecological footprint and a Triple Bottom Line for London. It is also a founding partner
of London Waste Action.
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