The Council have a duty to collect household waste and it is a service which consistently rates highly in terms of resident satisfaction. However, as the population grows and the number of households increase, so the cost of collecting and disposing of waste increases significantly year on year. Couple this with council funding reducing at a similar rate, it is clear we face a considerable financial challenge.
Waste is an expensive business. Our levy to the East London Waste Authority, who dispose of our waste, is £13m per year. Add on the £4m cost of the waste collection service and it equates to around £204 per year per household.
Havering households generate around 96,000 tonnes of waste per year. While some 36% of this is recycled, there is still a large amount which goes into landfill, and with landfill taxes at £82.60 per tonne, there is a hefty cost. B
y working together, the more we can minimise, limit or recycle our waste the more chance we have of reducing this enormous cost.
Further information and tips on waste diversion can be found on the Havering Council website HERE.
Cllr Darren Wise
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