Camden Council is tackling recycling rates on estates, which remain a challenge despite the deployment of a new fleet of electric refuse trucks. The issue was discussed at the Kentish Town District Management Committee (DMC) meeting on Tuesday, 25 November 2025.
Camden's current recycling rate is 29.1% as of 2023/24, according to the Environmental Services Waste Report Discussion. The council's Reduction and Recycling Plan (RRP) 2023-25 has set a target of a 35% recycling rate by 2025, leaving a gap of 5.9% to close.
The Environmental Services Waste Report Discussion noted that a new fleet of vehicles was introduced from April 2025. This includes 14 electric refuse collection vehicles, which has seen increased reliability of collections. The new vehicles are part of Camden's Environment Services contract with Veolia, which commenced on 1 April 2017 and was extended for a further eight years in February 2024.
However, the report also highlighted challenges, including lower recycling performance for estates. Research estimates that recycling rates on estates are around 18-20%. A key factor to achieving Camden's target would be to maximise recycling from flats, as around 54% of Camden's housing stock are estate properties.
Other challenges include operational issues for crews and caretakers, such as blocked access for collection vehicles and the distance to pull bins to vehicles. There has also been an increase in fires in refuse collection vehicles from lithium batteries and gas canisters being incorrectly disposed of. To combat this, a campaign is being developed to inform caretakers and residents on how to correctly dispose of dangerous wastes like lithium batteries and gas canisters, according to the Environmental Services Waste Report Discussion.
Environment Services, the Neighbourhoods Team and Veolia are working together to deliver targeted projects, tackle ongoing challenges and implement Simpler Recycling requirements. The Simpler Recycling legislation requires all households to have access to both dry recycling and food waste collection services by March 2026. Proposals are currently being developed to enable roll-out of provision to all households, including the estates that do not currently have access to facilities, according to the Environmental Services Waste Report Discussion.
