The London Daily News

05 October, 2009 09:34 (GMT +00:00)

London is a "rubbish dump"

London ranks top in Europe with 52% of rubbish dumped in landfills

News Desk

London is one of the biggest dumpers of rubbish in Europe, with more than half of the rubbish in the capital ending up in landfill sites.

In a study by Suez Environment, that compares the recycling and waste management habits of the European Union's biggest cities London was found to be dumping 2.2 million tonnes of 4.2 million collected rubbish from pavements in landfill sites.

The statistics rank London as the largest "dumper" of rubbish in landfills in Europe.

Londoners are according to the report dumping a staggering 520 kilos of bin waste annually, the fifth highest in the European Union, 270 kilos or 52 per cent is sent to landfill, reports The Times. The capital is only managing to recycle 22 per cent of rubbish with the majority being incinerated.

Local councils are facing heavy penalties from central government if they are found to be dumping in landfills with new laws introduced next year that will see a levy of £48 per tonne of landfill, which is expected to generate around £110 million for the Treasury.

London in comparison to Copenhagen, one of Europe's "greener" capitals shows that the Danish capital throwing away 20 per cent less rubbish than London, or 420 kilos per year. In Paris rubbish is collected daily from homes, in comparison to London with this taking place weekly.

Many Londoners have been complaining to their local councils at the size of "wheelie bins" or the over zealous nature of rubbish collection with cases of rubbish not collected because it was not placed in the correct bins.

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