The third Project Freesheet Walkabout went ahead very smoothly last week as part of London Sustainability Week; once again proving that there are still a great number of commtitted individuals who want to see an end to free newspaper waste.
Nearly 350kgs of free newspapers were collected in the alloted time period of 2 hours. Each PF volunteer was able to collect on average 140 free newspapers which means the average number of papers being collected has increased from the last Walkabout. Of the nearly 100 tonnes of free newspapers being distributed on a daily basis around London the vast majority are still going straight to landfill.
Papers were collected from the tube trains, overground trains, buses and the street. They were then displayed in Trafalgar Squarer before being taken to Ideal Waste for recycling.
As news of Boris Johnson's early decision to axe the Londoner (ex London Mayor Ken Livingstone's accused free propaganda paper), in favour of 10,000 trees to be planted across London, spreads across the internet, Reuters have also been reporting that a slight majority of newspapers editors think that all newspapers will be free in the future. The report was conducted by Zogby International for the World Editors Forum and Reuters.
The report said that "56 percent of respondents believed that the majority of news, be it via print or online, would be free in the future. That was up from 48 percent who answered yes a year ago."
These observations and the already well documented evidence of free newspaper growth (340% since 2001) should provide more than enough argument to bring free newspaper waste to the top of the waste and recycling agenda's of Government and local councils alike.
Mr Johnson's decision is obviously a very positive move in terms of London's environment, and so we look forward to his pre-election promise to "work with the publishers of these free newspapers to come to a proper arrangement that ensures they take responsibility for the amount of waste they are producing on a daily basis"
The next planned Walkabout from Project Freesheet will be held on Thursday June 12th. As before we will be planning on collecting at least 100 free papers per volunteer.
Please email us via the website if you would like to take part or click here for more details.
The candidates for London's Mayoral elections have been setting out their vision for a more positive response to the current free newspaper crisis.
Gerard Batten, Siân Berry, Alan Craig, Lindsey German, Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Matt O'Connor and Brian Paddick have all received this letter from Project Freesheet.
Brian Paddick (Lib Dem)feels that "free newspapers should have to pay all of the costs associated with the rubbish they cause. This may encourage them to deal more responsibly with the waste they create"
Siân Berry (Green Party)responded very firmly by saying "We are committed to ensuring there is 100% recycling of all free newspapers given out at stations and we are committed to providing much better recycling facilities at all rail and tube stations. We are also committed to ensuring the distributors pay the full clean-up costs of their activities. We support on-the-spot fines for littering, more obligations for publishers and all other business to collect and recycle their own waste and penalties for print over-runs" Gerard Batten MEP (UKIP candidate) responded as follows - "the free newspaper owners cannot escape responsibility for the waste problems they create" and he went on to say "I would consider any measure that made the publishers and distributors of free newspapers responsible for the costs of collecting and recycling their own waste products."
More interesting though was his idea to help increase rates of recycling the free papers - "I would also consider imaginative initiatives such as hiring the army of Big Issue sellers in the capital for a week or two to collect the discarded copies, and to put them into lorries for delivery back to the offices of the publishers"
The press office of Alan Craig of the Christian Peoples Alliance, responded as follows - "Alan was struck by the facts you set out in your letter - particularly the failure to recycle the freesheets. Alan would like to invite Project Freesheet to meet him in the Assembly to discuss how your proposals can be implemented at borough level and by business."
Meanwhile Boris Johnson (Conservative) said "I absolutely agree with you on this issue, recycling in London is a problem that needs to be tackled head on and not ignored... Should I be elected Mayor I will work with the publishers of these free newspapers to come to a proper arrangement that ensures they take responsibility for the amount of waste they are producing on a daily basis."
An open letter has been sent to all London's Mayoral candidates for 2008 by Project Freesheet. Sian Berry, Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, and Brian Paddick have all been asked how they would address the issues raised by the ongoing proliferation of free newspapers in the capital, and, if elected, how they would show Londoners that adequate standards of environmental responsibility were a priority.
The letter reads as follows -
"Among the issues the next major of London will have to tackle is the increasing environmental impact – and substantial clean-up cost – of free newspapers which continue to proliferate in our capital.
Currently, over 1.5 million free newspapers are distributed in London each weekday. No doubt you will have witnessed for yourself that many end up littered on London's streets and transport network.
What you may not be aware of is quite how little of this waste is actually recycled. Transport for London can only cope with recycling around 25% and no London borough yet recycles waste left in municipal bins. As a consequence, the vast majority of this waste ends up in landfill – a situation which will need to change as the EU Landfill Directive caps the proportion of biodegradeable waste which can be diverted to landfill at 50% from July 2009, then 35% from July 2016.
At a time of increasing concern about climate change, when there is a pressing need to reduce our energy consumption and make better use of finite natural resources, freesheets, from production to distribution, are a step in the wrong direction. Consider these simple facts:
Deforestation: London’s consumption of free newspapers amounts to more than 100,000 trees per year
Energy usage: Vast quantities of energy are used in production, distribution and disposal
Cleanup cost: the huge cost and resource drain on authorities is inevitably borne by taxpayers and commuters
Unsustainable behaviour: London seeks to inspire and lead other world cities in persuading its citizens and businesses to adopt more environmentally-sustainable behaviour, yet the wilful and gross wastage involved in the production and distribution of freesheets significantly undermines this message.
Decisive leadership on this issue is essential. We are not calling for a ban on free literature – we recognise the demand and businesses’ right to trade. However, both publisher and consumer must display adequate standards of environmental responsibility. Project Freesheet believes that relatively simple measures would go a long way to remedy the problems outlined:
More recycling bins: if we are aiming to recycle even 50% of free paper waste an extra 4000 bins are needed across the capital
Spot fines penalising those who litter or fail to use recycling bins when provided: this would keep London's streets and transport network cleaner, while communicating environmental imperatives
Ban distributors: publishers must be made more responsible for their own environmental impact. Forcing them to switch from manual distributors to stands where the public can help themselves would ultimately reducing supply to match demand
More obligations on publishers to collect and recycle their own waste: this would reduce the financial burden on City Hall, borough councils and the taxpayer
Penalties for continual print overruns: the current circulation war sees many papers jettisoned each day when they cannot be handed out, creating unacceptable and unnecessary waste.
As a mayoral candidate, we are interested in how you would address these issues if elected. We very much look forward to hearing from you."
Camden seeks to limit free literature distribution
The number of free newspapers being handed out outside Tube stations is set to be limited by Camden Council. In a new report, which will go to the council next month, it is being recommended that the number of newspapers handed out in Camden should be controlled more strictly to protect the borough's streets and save cash.
Last year Westminster Council sought to bring in similar controls, but instead it reached an agreement with Associated Newspapers and News International that they would buy extra recycling banks for the borough as a trial. Camden Council is considering trialling these recycling banks but it is still being proposed that controls are brought in anyway.
The plan is to designate areas such as Kings Cross and St Pancras, Camden Town, Euston Station and the Holborn gateway as control areas for the distribution of free literature in line with Defra guidance, under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.
Adrian Oliver, leader of Camden's Green Party, said: "I certainly share concerns about the waste of resources and the levels of litter caused by the London Lite and the London Paper.
"I would also be interested to know exactly how much recycling these papers are doing. How many of these papers are actually getting recycled and how many end up as litter?"
Nearly 70 volunteers travelled from as far as Scotland, Liverpool and Brighton to take part in the second Project Freesheet walkabout.
Most areas of London were covered with groups collecting in shifts of two hours from 3pm till 8pm. The groups that started after 6pm all reported that they were overwhelmed by the availability of discarded free newspapers.
London's TV and radio stations also took a great interest in the day's activities with live interviews and lots of coverage. The final count was just under 800 kg of free papers gathered in just 2 hours. This represents over 100 free papers per volunteer with the final count approaching 8000 free papers.
Some very hard physical work was put in by all who took part with ages ranging from 15 to 75. Project Freesheet would like to thank all the volunteers, team leaders and driver (thank you Jay!) who took part. We'll be publishing some more photos and video over the next few weeks; all of which document what an enormous task was taken on by the PF volunteers.
London's Mayor Ken Livingstone has just published his Business Waste Management Strategy. As stated in the Strategy under Proposal 32 – "The Mayor expects local authorities to utilise available legislation, including the Clean Neighbourhood’s Act, to improve street cleanliness, for example, by working with producers of free newspapers to expand litter and street recycling services."
Whilst in Holland, in response to the fairly recent appearance of 4 new free papers, a petition to "call on the Dutch city councils and free newspaper publishers to take responsibility" has just been announced. See here for more details.
Plans are also taking shape at the Newspaper House project by artist Sumer Erek. PF spoke to Sumer earlier this week - "the project aims to turn what is a no-value product made from trees with a life span of 10 minutes, into a structure that represents value and longevity" In the picture you can see the outline of the house.
Walkabout II, the Big 10,000, is to be held on Wednesday 27th in Central London. If you'd like to take part please send an email to walkabout@projectfreesheet.com
70 new recycling bins for newspaper have now been installed throughout 56 different locations of London's West End. Associated Newspapers and News International have each sponsored 35 newly designed bins at a cost of Ł500 each. The publishers will also empty and maintain these bins on a daily basis.
It is claimed these bins will help to recycle nearly 400 tonnes of newspaper each year, which according to the Londonpaper is the equivalent of 6400 trees per year.
Westminster Council have previously stated that they alone would need an extra 300 recycling bins to deal with free newspapers. Whilst Tube Lines reported in December that they are collecting 9.5 tonnes of free newspapers every day.
Recycling the equivalent of 6400 trees every year represents a step in the right direction, but it does very little to seriously combat the impact of destroying at least 104,000 trees every year for free papers.
A new London art project is aiming to make a house out of free newspapers collected by members of the public within 7 days!
From March 3 - 9 at Gillette Square, London, E8 artist Sumer Erek will be inviting members of the public to contribute by collecting old newspapers and working together to transform the waste paper into building material and the creation of the house.
But why build a 'Newspaper House'? - "We all believed that moving into the digital era would diminish the use of paper. On the contrary, there seems to be a resurgence of printed material and newspapers, much of it free and everywhere - yet we don't think much about where paper comes from and where it goes after we've used it."
Writing on their website, Creative City (the arts organisation behind the project) expect this public-art project that combines art with social interaction and topical issues will spark an instant positive response.
Project Freesheet will be supplying the Newspaper House with papers collected on the next PF Walkabout. 100 Project Freesheet volunteers will be collecting 10,000 free newspapers in one afternoon - more details on this to be announced soon.....
In a statement sent to Project Freesheet by Westminster City Council, Cllr Alan Bradley has spelt out his disappointment at Mayor Ken Livingstone's "outrageous" statement made last week during the major's monthly questions with London's Assembly members.
Westminster hits back at free newspapers recycling
Cllr Alan Bradley, Cabinet Member for Street Environment, said: "It is outrageous for the Mayor to single out the only borough that has achieved a deal with the free newspapers to tackle waste on our streets.
"From early in the New Year the publishers of the London Lite and thelondonpaper will have in place 70 of their own recycling bins, which they will empty themselves, at 58 sites across the West End. This in addition to the 146 newspaper recycling bins we supply and service ourselves across the city. Nobody does more, so it's more than a little galling to be singled out in this way."
Project Freesheet can sympathise with Cllr Bradley's point of view. In the past year, as all of the negotiations have been taking place between Westminster City Council and the respective free newspaper publishers, Mayor Ken has kept his opinions on free newspaper waste to himself.
But as the Mayor of London, who's task it is to oversee the environmental impact of each and every aspect of the city's activities, one has to wonder why Ken Livingstone has waited until after the protracted Westminster negotiations have taken place to criticise the only people to have done their utmost to make free newspaper publishers pay for the waste they are creating?
In response to a question posed by Mike Tuffrey AM at the Mayors monthly question time, Ken Livingstone gave a very clear indication about who he feels is responsible for the current lack of progress in dealing with freesheet waste.
Mike Tuffrey -
"London Councils would need an estimated 4,000 extra re-cycling bins to capture just half of the free sheets given away. Do you consider that Associated Newspapers and News International’s agreement to buy and manage 32 recycling bins in the West End fullfils the polluter pays principle?"
Response from the Mayor -
"Under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (Schedule 3A Free distribution of printed matter on designated land), authorities may designate land where it is an offence to distribute printed matter without consent of the planning authority. In granting consent, the authority can charge a fee and apply conditions, which could conceivably include the provision of and / or funding for newspaper recycling bins.
The paucity of recycling bins for free sheets across London is as much a reflection on the poor implementation of the legislation by local authorities, including Westminster, as it is a pitiful contribution by the publishers."
So, from this statement it is clearly evident that Mr Livingstone feels the councils should be asserting more of the powers granted to them under the aforementioned act, and that the publishers have so far made an insignificant contribution to the clean up costs.
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