More Bins for London Underground

(c) Transport for London An additional 25% more bins are to be installed on the London Underground tube network in a effort to tackle litter in the capital in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, made the announcement that the 171 new bins will start being installed from November, and as a result, by the end of the year there will be at least one bin in or just outside every London Underground station. This means that a small number of Tube stations that previously did not have a bin in or nearby, are set to do so. The oldest metro system in the world, London Underground carried almost 1.1 billion passengers in 2009, and currently has 634 litter bins, rising to 805 with this announcement. One of the difficulties in increasing the number of bins on the Tube network is that litter bins at Tube stations are subject to strict security controls. The only bin designs which are used are clear plastic bags suspended from plastic hoops, and they are always carefully positioned with security. In addition, London Underground has been working hard to boost its recycling rates, and has established a new system where all of the rubbish placed in any of the stations bins is sorted in order to recycle as much of the waste as possible. A recent audit shows that 70% of waste left on the Tube network is recycled through this new waste management strategy. The extra bins are the next phase of the Mayor's plans to tackle litter and improve quality of life in the capital. He made the announcement at a City Hall litter event which bought together a range of organisations involved in litter prevention and in cleaning up in the city. Johnson, said: "The Tube is often one of the first sights that visitors experience when they visit our city whilst Londoners also want to travel in a clean, pleasant environment. London Underground staff work hard to keep the network spick and span, but these extra bins are a welcome addition to help passengers deposit their waste in an environmentally friendly way." "This is part of a series of steps we are taking to boost the cleanliness of the city ahead of 2012 to ensure London is at its best ahead of, during and after the Games." Johnson added. Samantha Harding, CPRE Stop the Drop Campaign Manager, said: "It's good news the Mayor is providing more bins for Londoners. Making it easy for everyone on the Tube to get rid of their waste will mean less litter. More bins on the network should also see an increase in the impressive 70% of waste being recycled, in particular valuable materials like glass, plastic and aluminium." The Mayor has pledged to work with key organisations and Londoners to reduce litter in the capital in the run up to the 2012 Games. City Hall officers are currently talking to the boroughs about adopting a scheme to make it easier for people to report fly-tipping in their areas and there are plans to co-ordinate a large volunteer-led clean up next year. In addition a chewing gum summit was hosted earlier this year bringing together manufacturers, innovators and boroughs earlier this year to help address the issue of chewing gum rubbish. The Mayor is also planning to engage with tobacco manufacturers on finding ways to better tackle the problem of smoking related litter.