Food waste collections are set to return to help get the borough back on track to hit its 50% target, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Barnet Council has vowed to increase its recycling rate to 50% – despite overseeing a big drop in recent years.

Senior Labour councillors have admitted the council “needs to go further” with its recycling rate and will be introducing food waste collections to help meet the 50% target.

The overall household recycling rate for 2023/24 in Barnet was just 28.7%, lower than the average rate across London of 32.7%. It comes after the borough recycling rate decreased from a high of 37.4% in 2016/17.

Under the previous Conservative administration, the council scrapped separate food waste collections in 2018, claiming the move would save £300,000 a year. The Labour group, which now controls the council, pledged in its 2022 local election manifesto to reintroduce food recycling.

Although collecting food waste has a cost, the cabinet member for environment and climate, Alan Schneiderman, claimed it would ultimately save money because it was “cheaper to dispose of”.

The move will help the council meet the Labour government’s timeline to implement food waste recycling collections by March 2026, as well as meeting the aims of the North London Joint Waste Strategy (JWS).

The new strategy, which came into effect today (Thursday 19th), aims to provide the framework for waste management in North London up to 2040 and was developed by the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest, which are all part of North London Waste Authority (NLWA).

The strategy sets out how the North London boroughs will reduce waste, encourage residents to reuse and repair, as well as increase recycling rates.

While reviewing the JWS at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (17th), Cllr Schneiderman said: “The overview and scrutiny committee were clear that we need to increase our recycling rates to reach our 50% target.

“We need to do this at the same time as making it easier for residents to recycle more.

“There are lots of questions about the difficulties faced by people living in flats, flats above shops, which have the most difficulty recycling and getting those residents to recycle.”

Council leader Barry Rawlings added: “I think it’s important that officers consider all the options to get up to that 50%.

“There’s the introduction of weekly food waste collections, there’s thoughts about what sort of vehicles we use, [and] what we can do in partnership with the waste authority.”

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