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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 26 April 2007

Estates’ waste policy is unfair

• WITH regard to recent news items on Camden’s waste collections – residents are complaining that their two rubbish collections per week are being changed to two recycling collections per week. It may be useful to have some objective information to allow us to understand how significant this change is.
Camden has recently removed its door-to-door recycling service for housing estates. People who live on estates will have to carry their waste long distances to recyling banks. Meanwhile people who live in houses have waste trucks turning up at their door up to four times a week, once for recycling (soon to be twice), once for green waste and twice for the remaining rubbish (soon to be once).
There is a clear inequality here. Camden council’s Equality Policy clearly states: “We (the council) are committed to ensuring that our services are accessible to all and responsible by ensuring our customers are aware of our services and that we deliver our services in ways that are sensitive to customers’ needs.”
By supplying a huge amount of services to those in houses and removing them from those on estates, Camden is clearly in breach of its own policy. Its recycling service is now less accessible to estates’ residents.
I suggest that home owners recognise the favourable treatment they receive from Camden. Other boroughs supply just one rubbish collection per week. Some councils are now collecting rubbish and recycling on alternate weeks – a significant difference to the four collections to Camden’s houses.
Interesting, Camden council could also be in breach of its own environmental policy, in which they state: “We are committed to setting a good example to other organisations (and) will cut down on unnecessary travel”. By providing more waste services than are needed to households (two rubbish collections per week) the council deploys extra trucks on the road, clogging up traffic and belching out carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
This certainly sets up an example, which seems to be: remove environmental services from those with least money and lavish it on those with most. This is a social injustice and an environmental injustice.
GRAEME MAUGHAN
Coordinator, Camden Friends of the Earth
New Orleans Walk, N19

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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