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500 tonnes of our green rubbish 'sent oversees as landfill'
AN INVESTIGATION has been launched over allegations that Islington's recyclable waste is being dumped in overseas landfill sites.
Councillor Bridget Fox (Liberal Democrat), Islington Council's executive member for sustainability has ordered an investigation after it was alleged that 500 tonnes of the borough's recyclable rubbish had been shipped unsorted to Indonesia.
The allegations came to light on the BBC's investigative Real Story programme on Monday night. Councillor Fox said: "I was deeply concerned by what I saw and I have ordered an immediate investigation into the apparent evidence that recyclable material from Islington was included in a shipment of mixed waste. I want to stress that residents should continue to use our recycling facilities to recycle their paper, glass, cans, plastic bottles and cardboard."
Council bosses are holding urgent talks with contractors London Waste Limited and Grosvenor Waste Management to find out what the waste was doing in Indonesia.
The Environment Agency says that about half of the eight million tonnes of green bin material thrown out each year in the UK ends up overseas.
And contractors who export waste instead of processing it in the UK are not breaking any law as long as it is properly sorted and cleaned so that foreign mills and factories can recycle it.
A Grosvenor Waste Management statement read: "We categorically deny the allegations that recyclable material was or has been exported for disposal to landfill.
"Grosvenor seeks to maximise its domestic and European market opportunities but the demise of British industry increasingly necessitates export to the manufacturing superpower developing in the Far East.
"Grosvenor wish to give all our customers the total assurance that we have not and never would export material for disposal or destruction as alleged."
Islington resident Jo Arden, of Cloudesley Road, Barnsbury, said: "I'm absolutely aghast about this."
Islington Green party spokesman Robin Latimer said: "Urgent action is needed to restore public confidence in recycling and we are calling for a full and open inquiry into what went wrong."
jessica.rogers@archant.co.uk
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