Reducing waste and increasing the circular economy

In 2022/23 22.04% of household waste was sent to recycling which is below the inner London average of 26.01% for that year. This shows a strong need for us to increase our recycling rates as a borough.

Cleaner borough plan

Recycling volumes have increased to 23.8% of household waste up from 22.04% in 2022.

72,000 low rise households are now able to recycle their food waste. To date this has resulted in over 500 tonnes of food waste being recycled so far.

We have introduced the highly successful Mega Skips programme where residents can dispose of their large bulky items for free. Findings shows that Mega Skip days had contributed to a 16% reduction in fly-tipping.

Reducing emissions from waste collections

We have a new and modern fleet of waste collection vehicles that run on HVO fuel. This update will reduce carbon emissions from the fleet by 90% and lead to a reduction in air pollutants.

Improving waste and recycling on estates

Council estates are the priority for food waste roll out.

The Homelife housing newsletter keeps housing estates updated on council activities. 

Estate side waste collection has been implemented, leading to a significant increase in recycling in April 2024.

Our Waste team is collaborating with the Housing Estates team to improve street cleanliness. This includes coordinated use of CCTV, reviewing resources for fly-tip removal, and managing bin washing schedules.

Supporting the circular economy

The Library of Things in Southside Shopping Centre allows residents to borrow items instead of buying them and is consistently in the top three performing locations in the UK every month.

We also provided microgrants to fund repair cafes in the borough, promoting repair and reuse.

Supporting electrical reuse and repair

We provide laptops to Power2Connect to recycle and provide to residents to ensure they have digital access.

Reducing single use plastics

We are part of the London Councils One World Living initiative, which aims to reduce emissions by focusing on food, textiles, electricals and plastics. We have also pledged to reduce our plastic use.

Reducing textiles waste

We are the co-lead for London Council’s One World Living (OWL) textiles team. The team has co-developed the London Textiles Action Plan with ReLondon, London Councils, the Greater London Authority, and the Waste London Waste Authority.

This plan will be published in spring 2025 and identifies key actions between now and 2030 to reduce consumption-based emissions from textiles in London. 

Within the borough, the team is continuing to promote textiles collections through its partnership with Traid and has developed a schools engagement programme on circular textiles. 

This includes four projects:

  1. A pan-London project to set up uniform swap shops in schools
  2. Running workshops with schools
  3. Development of how to guides for free use by schools on a range of circular textile initiatives
  4. Working with social services on providing free, second hand clothes for children in need

Sustainable food

This Wandsworth Food Partnership Incubator Programme will create a food partnership to coordinate food policy activities across the borough.

The programme will improve collaboration within the food system, adopting a holistic and integrated approach to food, including considerations around food sustainability.

The programme will include a dedicated fund of £100,000 to support the implementation of the Wandsworth Borough Food Strategy, building upon the Wandsworth Food Plan.