May 21 2007
In September 2003, the Mayor published his Municipal Waste Management Strategy: Rethinking Rubbish in London. Over 4 million tonnes of municipal waste (waste managed by waste authorities) is produced in London each year, and yet it accounts for just a quarter of all the waste produced in London. Therefore, the Mayor has produced a draft strategy for the remaining three quarters (13.8 million tonnes) of London’s waste produced by London’s businesses, for consultation with the London Assembly and Functional Bodies.
The Mayor's vision is that by 2020 the waste produced by London’s businesses no longer compromises London’s future as a sustainable city. London’s businesses must take responsibility and take action to use resources productively and London’s waste industry and entrepreneurs must maximise the economic opportunities of reprocessing and managing waste within London.
The term 'business waste', in this strategy, refers to commercial, industrial, construction, demolition, excavation and hazardous waste produced by businesses operating in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors from those with a single employee to multinational corporations.