With household recycling rates plateauing across UK in recent years, ACR+ member NLWA has been innovating to ensure more items, particularly those that are tricky-to-recycle, can now be recycled in north London.

In June 2021, NLWA began to recycle the mattresses thrown out or fly-tipped every year. In just eight months, 67,058 mattresses were recycled, saving 1,527 tonnes of reusable resources including steel, cotton, and polyester for the circular economy. Likewise, NLWA became the UK’s first waste authority to recycle polystyrene at its eight Reuse and Recycling Centres. At a policy level, NLWA publicly called for a charge on disposable coffee cups and lids, bans on more single-use plastics, as well as reinstating the 2023 start for Extended Producer Responsibility legislation and extending it to nappies, wet wipes, and carpets.

Source: www.nlwa.gov.uk