Brent residents who won't recycle face £1,000 fine

Brent council is to monitor refuse collections and today pledged to be tough in enforcing the regulations.

From 4 August, paper, glass, metals such as food and drinks tins, plastic bottles, textiles, shoes, batteries and engine oil will all have to be recycled.

Brent council leader Paul Lorber said: "Two-thirds of our daily rubbish can be recycled. If you are among the 80 per cent of households served by the green box collection system and don't recycle, I urge you to start as soon as possible.

"For those few people who refuse the message is quite clear: you could receive a fixed penalty notice or a fine of up to £1,000.

"We all have to recycle more or the cost will be passed onto local people."

Brent follows Harrow, Barnet, Hackney and Bromley in introducing compulsory recycling, while several-other boroughs have carried out trials. The scheme applies to people living in houses and flats converted from houses.

The borough's waste recycling rate is currently almost 25 per cent but it has a target 30 per cent by 2010. The London average is 20 per cent.

A spokesman for London Councils, which represents boroughs, said compulsory recycling was unlikely to be introduced across the whole of the capital. Many boroughs, especially those with a large proportion of high-rise blocks, were unable to organise effective schemes because of logistical problems.

"It is a matter for each borough to put in place the measures needed to help drive up recycling in their local area," said the spokesman. Increasingrecycling rates is not only good for the environment, it helps councils' spiralling costs for sending waste to landfill."

Brent's bill for sending its waste to landfill is likely to be around £7 million this year.

But with landfill tax going up by a minimum of £8 a tonne every year and other costs rising, the borough said its bill could be as much as £10million by 2011 if it does not recycle more of its waste.

Landfill sites are also a major cause of greenhouse gases which causing global warming.

Brent said a majority of its residents were in favour of the scheme - a survey of 770 people who responded to a consultation on the introduction of compulsory recycling found 78 per cent supportive.