Camden faces pressure to improve recycling rates as new legislation looms, according to a recent meeting of the Kentish Town District Management Committee (DMC). The council's current recycling rate of 29.1% falls short of its 35% target for 2025, while upcoming 'Simpler Recycling' laws mandate food waste collection services for all households by March 2026.

Camden's recycling efforts are particularly focused on estates, where recycling rates lag behind kerbside collections. ReLondon estimates London's average communal recycling rate as 22% in 2023, while Camden's localized work has found estates recycling rates to be around 18-20%.

The Head of Environment Services provided an update on Camden's Environment Services contract with Veolia, noting that the contract was extended for a further 8 years from 1 April 2025. The contract aims to minimise waste and maximise participation in reuse and recycling.

However, street cleansing standards have declined since 2021/22, failing to meet the contract target of 6%. Street cleansing standards in Camden are independently measured by Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) three times a year. The results for litter are recorded, and the results show that standards were good for litter up to 2021/22 but have dropped since resulting in failures against the contract target of 6%. The Public reports pack stated that the latest recycling rate was 29.1% in 2023/24, short of the 35% target by 2025.

To combat these challenges, Camden is exploring ways to boost recycling rates on estates, where performance lags behind kerbside collections. Research indicates that convenience, knowledge gaps, and inadequate bin storage contribute to lower recycling rates in communal flats. To address the 'knowledge gaps' among residents regarding recycling practices, particularly in communal flats, Veolia's Engagement team work with Camden to deliver projects and events to increase recycling and reduce contamination which include:

  • Estate Action days: engaging with residents on services
  • Delivery of Community Skip and Fix & Do events
  • Supporting Sharing Spaces events (run by Think & Do)
  • Promoting Camden Eco Points (recycling rewards scheme) to estate residents
  • Delivery of events e.g. food waste reduction workshops
  • Targeted estate projects implementing interventions to improve recycling (signage, containers, communications inc. door knocking)