Reducing chemical use in street weeding
We're committed to reducing the amount of chemical herbicide we spray to control weed growth on local streets.
To do this, we:
- Trial greener ways of managing plant growth
- Allow residents to entirely opt out of herbicide spraying on their street
Our approach
Like other councils, we have historically used a weed killer containing a chemical herbicide called glyphosate to control street plant growth. We have reduced the quantity in recent years, including no longer spraying this around the base of street trees.
Local residents have raised concerns to us about the use of glyphosate on public streets. They asked us to consider alternative methods of controlling wild plants to help protect our local environment and safeguard our valuable wildlife, such as bees.
2024 trials
We listened to your concerns and ran three trials in 2024 across selected areas of Battersea Park ward.
We tested different, proven approaches to reducing or eliminating the use of glyphosate. View more details and results of the 2024 trials.
2026 trials
Building on the 2024 trials, we will run two more trials in 2026 in limited areas. We'll again test alternative approaches that could help limit glyphosate use.
Full details will be published soon.
Chemical spraying opt-out scheme
We're introducing a borough-wide voluntary opt-out scheme for streets.
This new scheme enables streets to entirely opt out of the glyphosate spraying programme.
Find out how the opt-out scheme works.