Reducing waste

Less in the bin, more in your pocket

Please help the environment and your pocket by putting less in the bin and recycling as much as you can!  Less waste helps us keep council tax low and protects other vital services such as schools.

Every year the average Wandsworth household throws away about two thirds of a tonne of rubbish, about the weight of a mini. Everything that isn't recycled is taken by river barge to an energy-from-waste incinerator in Belvedere, Bexley.  It isn't dumped in landfill, but it still costs over £7 million every year to get rid of.

As well as recycling, reducing the amount of rubbish produced is even better -   for example, reducing the amount of food you buy that doesn't get eaten helps with your grocery bill and waste disposal costs.  And less food thrown away means less impact on the environment from food production and distribution, and collecting and disposing of it when it gets thrown away.  Repairing and reusing damaged items, selling or giving them away are also good ways of reducing waste. 

Waste disposal costs have been increasing in recent years. Every tonne of waste avoided now saves Wandsworth council tax payers £128. Every additional tonne of waste recycled in orange sacks or banks saves £55.

This table shows how Wandsworth has successfully reduced public waste since 2004/05.  The quantities shown include waste from street cleaning and maintaining housing estates as well as household dustbin waste.

If Wandsworth still produced as much waste as it did in 2004/05, it would cost £2.8 million more every year to dispose of it.

If every household in Wandsworth produced just one kilogramme less waste each week, this would save over £886,000 every year.  And if every household recycled one kilogramme more of their waste each week, that would save another £380,000 every year.