Haringey Lib Dems have welcomed news from Haringey Council that they will be extending the range of items that will be collected under the door-to-door recycling scheme. Residents in the area covered by the expanded scheme will soon be able to put cardboard and plastic in their green boxes for collection.

The announcement follows three years of persistent pressure from the Lib Dems for recycling improvements. The party pledged in their 2002 local election manifesto to press for an extensive door-to-door recycling service in the borough.

The extension to the current door-to-door green box scheme will include, in addition to the cardboard and plastic, mixed paper and green garden waste and comes two years after Haringey Council bowed to pressure from the Lib Dems and extended door-to-door recycling. However, since that success the council’s official opposition has continued to lobby the Council to provide the recycling services that the residents have asked for.

In the last two years Lib Dem successes have included securing a review of recycling and waste minimisation in the borough by the Council’s scrutiny committee and launching a Lib Dem recycling factsheet with all the contact details and information on the subject that the Council has failed to provide. Additionally, individual councillors have worked hard to secure more recycling facilities where local residents want them.

Lib Dem environment spokesperson, Cllr Bob Hare and Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone are pleased with the Council’s long overdue decision to extend the scheme to include plastic and cardboard.

Cllr Bob Hare (Highgate) comments:

“I am pleased that the Council has woken up to its responsibility and persistent Lib Dem pressure. I hope that they have learned from the debacle of the green box roll out two years ago and residents will be properly informed of changes to the service.”

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) adds:

“I have received many letters complaining about the Council’s poor recycling services in recent years, and I am pleased that the Council is finally listening to these complaints and starting to take action.

“There is still much that the Council needs to do to reverse years of neglect on this issue, but it is a step in the right direction and we will continue to press for the comprehensive service that we have been lobbying for.”