Wandsworth’s Cleaner Borough Plan delivers 5,000 tonnes of extra recycling

As part of our Cleaner Borough Plan, we have guaranteed weekly rubbish and recycling collections, doubled Mega Skip Days, and given every household two free bulky waste collections, all while maintaining the lowest Council Tax in the country.

As a listening council, we introduced free food waste recycling to all households with space at the front of their property for a food waste caddy last year. This is now being rolled out to all flats, with almost every home in the borough set to benefit from this service by the end of 2025.

With the help of residents, we have already recycled 5,000 tonnes of extra recycling since June 2024, including general recycling, food waste, bulky waste, and real Christmas trees. The improvements have also generated cost savings of £1.2million, which will be reinvested into making streets cleaner.

The next exciting phase of the Cleaner Borough Plan is launching today. It will focus on a range of initiatives aimed at making streets cleaner and tidier, tackling fly-tipping across the borough, and continuing to improve recycling services. This will include additional bins in town centres, jet washing and more regular sweeping of high streets, as well as clearing fly-tips on private land not owned by the council, all to make residents feel proud of our streets.

Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “The Cleaner Borough Plan reflects our commitment to listening to residents and delivering the best waste services we can, improving people’s lives without adding a penny to your Council Tax.

“We are proud to have collected 5,000 extra tonnes of recycling and want to thank everyone who has recycled more using these new services. It wouldn’t have been possible without you.

“We know the hard work is not over yet. We look forward to delivering the next phase of this plan and sharing more information about the new initiatives over the coming weeks. Stay tuned and thank you again to all those helping ensure Wandsworth remains a great place to live, work, and visit.”

What has the Cleaner Borough Plan already delivered?

• Free bulky waste collections: every household in the borough now gets two free bulky waste collections a year, worth £47 per household.
• Guaranteed weekly bin collections: where many councils are cutting the frequency of their bin collections, we promise to continue collecting your rubbish and recycling every week.
• Food waste collections for all: all houses can now recycle food waste for free, and we are currently rolling this out to all flats, meaning almost every home in the borough will benefit from this service by the end of the year.
• More Mega Skip Days: we have doubled the number of Mega Skip Days, which now take place twice a month, helping to reduce fly-tipping by 16%.
• A new fleet of modern vehicles: we now use old cooking oil to power our waste collection vehicles, cutting carbon emissions by 90%.
• Improved recycling services: as well as food, we have introduced free small electricals recycling, with clear information on what can be recycled where.