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We are in a climate emergency

We need to take urgent action to meet the challenge.

All seven of our constituent boroughs (Barnet, Camden, Enfield Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest), as well as the Mayor of London and the UK Parliament, have declared a climate emergency. Declaring a climate emergency acknowledges the existential threat of global warming to humanity as well as the planet and demands significant action in response.

We know that north Londoners support this ambition and rank the climate emergency as a top concern. It is the most important problem of our times and not something that can be kicked into the long grass. As part of this effort, we are developing an ambitious new Joint Waste Strategy to support the reduction of waste in north London.

North London Waste Authority and the seven boroughs play an important part in addressing the climate change challenge on behalf of two million Londoners.

Reducing waste is a team effort including the government, manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and of course the Councils & NLWA are involved. Government must lead the way through the introduction of legislation in collaboration with these other groups.

We have a clear ambition to deliver a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future for north London.

This is underpinned by four priorities:

• To support the reduction in household waste.

• To promote repairing, reusing and recycling where reduction isn’t possible.

• To reduce the environmental impact of disposal where there is no option to reuse or recycle.

• To deliver collaborative, community-focused services which provide value for money, maximise social value and minimise carbon impact.

Our work is underpinned by a Joint Waste Strategy (JWS), which sets our vision for achieving these responsibilities. The last JWS was published in 2004 and is now out of date, having expired in 2020.

We are therefore producing a new JWS, fit for the future, with the main goal of promoting the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle as part of a circular economy.

To do this, we will talk and listen with partners, residents, community groups and local businesses to develop a new JWS.

Our public engagement is split into two phases:

• Summer 2023: Set out and seek feedback on our vision and priorities

• Early 2024: Provide and gain feedback on the draft Joint Waste Strategy

This engagement will offer people the opportunity to co-design our strategy. It will be done in stages, first listening to understand local priorities and aspirations before seeking feedback on a draft strategy, informed by these priorities and aspirations.

We will be hosting pop-up events in each of our seven constituent boroughs this summer to discuss our vision and hear your thoughts. Look out for us in your area and take part in our short survey below.