Harrow Council have announced that a trial to increase the amount of kitchen and garden waste that can be recycled is going ‘very well’.

In the last week, the pilot scheme has already taken 80 tonnes of organic waste to an alternative recycling plant in Envar, near Peterborough.

  Cllr. Susan Hall, Portfolio Holder for Environment Services, said: "This is a great victory for the residents of Harrow and means that the Council can continue our recycling revolution.

"In the last two years, Harrow’s residents have increased the amount they recycle by 20%. This pilot scheme means that we can now keep pace with this rapidly rising rate of recycling.

"This is testament to the hard work the council’s waste team and their work with our contractor West London Composting."

Harrow Council has a contract with West London Composting, to process up to 1500 tonnes of organic waste per month. This is the largest allocation at the Harefield site. In comparison Brent is allowed 1200 tonnes a month and Hillingdon 900 tonnes.

On Friday 28th September, this limit was exceeded and the collected waste was sent to landfill. This involved approx. 75 tonnes of organic waste (5% of the capacity) and will cost Harrow approximately £1000 in additional landfill charges.

The composting of food and garden waste requires sites which have to be licensed by both the Environment Agency and the State Veterinary Service. Such sites continue to be in short supply and alternatives are difficult to find. The nearest site, to Harrow, with known spare capacity is one near to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. The cost of transferring the waste and processing at this site would currently be too high.