Southwark’s Recycling Shame: Council Stuck in the Rubbish Heap

Southwark’s recycling rate has stalled - and residents are paying the price. Liberal Democrats have slammed Labour-run Southwark Council as it once again fails to increase its recycling rate - with just 30.5% of waste being recycled in 2023/2024.  

The recycling rate is still 5% lower than 10 years ago, when the rate was 35%. Despite bold claims on climate and sustainability, Southwark Labour have failed to improve year after year. The borough now lags behind not just national leaders, but also its London neighbours. 

In stark contrast, the top 6 councils for recycling are all run by the Liberal Democrats – all recycling more than 60% of their waste. In London, the three Lib Dem run councils have the top 5 highest rates in the city, with Sir Ed Davey’s own Kingston Upon Thames seeing almost half of its waste sent to recycling. 

Southwark Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent action to boost recycling, including more accessible recycling and food waste collections for flats and estates, stronger enforcement on fly-tipping hotspots, better education and communication on what can be recycled and where and investment in cleaner streets and bins that actually work.

Liberal Democrat councillors have slammed Southwark Labour for their failure to clean up their act, with the latest figures nowhere close to the Council’s target to hit 40% in the next year.

Commenting, Southwark Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Cllr Graham Neale said:

“If we’re serious about tackling the climate emergency, we need to be recycling far more than we are today.

With flytipping and litter still issues that come up on the doorstep, it couldn’t be clearer that Southwark Labour are rubbish at rubbish”