by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
London's Whitechapel Market is set to become the first market in the country to recycle one hundred percent of all the waste it generates.
This ambitious scheme, launched by Tower Hamlets Council, the London Borough responsible for this street market, aims to ensure that every last scrap of waste from fish heads to plastic bags is recycled.
The full introduction of this scheme follows a successful three-month pilot and council bosses say the scheme may now be rolled out also to other markets in the borough.
"We have pulled out all the stops to make Whitechapel Market the first to recycle 100% of the waste it generates," said the council's green chief, Councillor Abdal Ullah.
Tower Hamlets council has worked with market traders to develop the scheme, which requires every stallholder to be responsible for putting recyclables in their allocated recycling bins.
Mr Ullah added: "We are very pleased that they have fully supported what we are trying to do here.
"Markets by their very nature can create a lot of waste, when you take into account things like packaging and food products with a relatively short shelf life.
"We have introduced a number of new ways that all this can be recycled and we are very excited that none of the market waste will be sent to landfill."
To the statements that markets by their very nature create a lot of waste one could but add that, if things were still as they were in my childhood then a lot of the organic waste, that is to say fruit and vegetables that may be a little sad looking or bruised would not be thrown but could be given, as it used to be, to the poorer households.
I have seen where local councils stop people picking up stuff that has been left by the stallholders even if the stallholders do not mind. In addition to that in my childhood and youth and even until not so long ago none of the wooden crates and such was wasted because people would come and get them for a variety of reasons. Yet again, however, may councils made that illegal, basically or actually. Not directly a good idea, in my view.
The recycling bins are locked overnight to prevent misuse by local businesses and residents.
Separate bins are provided for food waste, which are emptied twice daily to prevent contamination of other recycling materials – something which council chiefs admitted has proved a problem in the past. The waste will be turned into a soil improver.
© M Smith (Veshengro), August 2008
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Whitechapel Market to become a waste-free market
