• I AM really dismayed by the petty political point-scoring in which Camden councillors are indulging over the critical issue of waste management in the borough.

As the BBC’s recent alarming series on landfill highlighted, we can no longer shy away from the urgent need to implement radical measures towards the transformation of the way we deal with our rubbish.

As you reported (End of the orange bin bags, January 3), Camden is to jettison its “orange bag” system for disposal of non-recyclable refuse, meaning that residents will no longer receive free bags for this purpose, saving the council a negligible £220,000 a year.

The council says it can no longer guarantee to implement a “recycling-led” approach to rubbish disposal due to government funding cuts, and your editorial highlights the fact that the borough’s recycling rates have remained stagnant for a decade, leaving us at the bottom of London’s recycling league.

Meanwhile the Conservatives scoff at the ambitious attempt by Camden with its contractor Veolia to implement the new scheme limiting the amount of non-recyclable refuse householders could leave out. Arguably, communication about the new scheme could have been much better.

However the key issue, I would suggest, is with the high level of renters across the borough who are not familiar with the system in place for dealing with their rubbish, and often, as temporary residents, have no investment in learning either.

The onus therefore lies squarely with landlords and letting agents to brief tenants fully on how the system works (along with other service arrangements across the borough) and ensure that they comply with the regulations or lose their tenancies.

We face an environmental crisis with regard to rubbish. Our landfill mountains are growing literally by the hour and we can no longer shut our eyes to the huge amount of non-degradable, and often perilous refuse we are burying underground across the country.

We should all make a commitment to working collaboratively with our council, across party political lines, to address this urgent societal challenge at local level, and raise the bar for Camden as a flagship London borough in urban innovation across all areas of environmental management.

CLARE MELHUISH
Director UCL Urban Laboratory
Director, Battlehome Ltd (resident-owned freehold company)
NW1