Council hopes expanded food waste service will boost low recycling rate

The latest figures show that recycling rates in Haringey are continuing to stagnate, reports Richard Cubitt

Haringey bins — Household bins in Haringey

Haringey Council hopes an expansion to its kerbside food waste collection service will boost recycling rates – after the latest figures showed very little improvement.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently released its annual report into local authority waste collections, which shows that Haringey’s rate of household recycling in 2024/25 was 28.6%, up only slightly from 28.5% in 2023/24.

It reflects a general stagnation of recycling across North London as a whole, with rates even worsening in some boroughs. Haringey remains well below the London average recycling rate of 32.6%.

This is despite the North London Waste Authority (NLWA), which co-ordinates waste disposal across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest, having set a household recycling target of 50%.

Last year the average recycling rate across the seven NLWA boroughs fell from 29.8% to 28.5%.

This is against a backdrop of London boroughs being well behind the English average of 42.3%.

Speaking to councillors about recycling last year, Seema Chandwani, the Labour-led council’s cabinet member for resident services and tackling inequality, said: “We will work tirelessly towards the 50% recycling target by engaging with residents to recycle more and produce less non-recyclable waste.”

After the latest figures showed there had been little improvement, a council spokesperson said: “Our dry recycling rate is already above the average for North London Waste Authority boroughs, and we have the third highest overall recycling rate in this group.

“Through ‘Destination 50%’ we are working with residents towards achieving the 50% GLA recycling target by 2030 so we are investing in initiatives local people tell us they want.

“These include the launch of recycling hubs in all our libraries and concierges on council housing estates, a borough-wide textile collection and a kerbside small electrical collection.

“Later this spring we will expand our kerbside food waste collection service to all households and next year plan to introduce a raft of new services such as mobile recycling centres, on-street recycling sites and a bookable collection for paint.

“We provide comprehensive recycling collections for a wide range of household materials and will continue to work tirelessly towards the 50% recycling target by engaging with residents to recycle more and produce less non-recyclable waste.”

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