Liberal Democrats in Westminster back National Recycling Week

7.23.48pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 2nd Jun 2008

We all need to redouble our efforts to cut down on waste, say local LibDems

A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by local Liberal Democrats as shock figures reveal the scale of Westminster's waste problem.

Mark Blackburn, chair of the local LibDems, said, "Local LibDems are delighted to back the National Recycling Week campaign.

"Here in Westminster each resident is on average producing over 266kg of waste a year that is not being recycled or composted. That means that a household of four people is actually producing over a tonne of waste in a single year that is neither recycled nor composted.

"Sometimes we focus too heavily on just recycling rates, but if higher recycling rates are combined with more waste overall then things are actually getting worse, not better.

"We need to see concerted action from manufacturers, from retailers, and from the Government to reduce the amount of packaging in which products are swathed. We all know what it is like to get our shopping home, and have to rip off lots of cardboard and plastic. Often it's just totally unnecessary.

"More locally, we need the council to focus ever more relentlessly on driving up the amount of waste that is recycled in Westminster. It has to go up, way up."

National Recycling Week takes place from 2nd until 8th June, and this year is the fifth year it has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way.