News

30 cities from across the world meet in London to tackle waste

Boris Johnson to open the C40 London Waste Workshop

22 March 2010

The Mayor will officially open the C40 London Waste Workshop in City Hall on Monday 22nd March. This is the beginning of a three-day meeting of major cities, sharing ideas about how to minimise rubbish, boost recycling and also examining the latest technologies for managing waste. The workshop is hosted by London in co-ordination with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

During the conference, San Francisco - which has a high recycling rate - will be discussing achieving zero waste going to landfill and New York will be highlighting the challenges of recycling in flats and high density urban environments. Mexico City will share its experience of transforming its recycling system which has traditionally been dominated by people picking rubbish off landfill sites and the social challenges this has brought. Tokyo will discuss new technologies such as pyrolysis and their 'super eco town'.

London will be discussing its waste action plan and how the city is planning to manage its rubbish as efficiently as possible, including extracting energy from waste.

Boris Johnson said: ‘ I am delighted to welcome cities from across the world to our great metropolis.  This workshop is a super opportunity for international collaboration on an issue that we all have in common – our rubbish. It offers cities the opportunity to find out about cutting-edge technologies and strategies that really work so we can cut the amount of rubbish going to landfill, save money and help our environment.’

David Miller, Mayor of Toronto and Chair of C40 said:"Cities have an on-going responsibility for dealing with waste. By hosting this ambitious C40 workshop, Mayor Johnson and London are ensuring that leading-edge successful waste recycling, reduction and disposal strategies are shared among cities committed to leadership in the fight against climate change."

For media enquiries please contact Nicola Dillon and Alan Ali on 020 7983 4066 or Hilary Merrett on 020 7983 4755 (not for publication) or email environmentdesk@london.gov.uk