A step change is required in London’s infrastructure and approach if it is to meet future demands, according to the Mayor’s consultation on London’s long-term capabilities.

In the three month consultation launched today (30 July), the accompanying document ‘Enabling Infrastructure: Green, Energy, Water and Waste Infrastructure to 2050’ sets out some of the key strategic requirements that will make the Capital more sustainable, despite population rising by 37 per cent to an estimated 11.3 million.

It states that the aim that, by the middle of the century, London will ‘have completed the transition from ‘take-make-dispose’ to a circular economy’. This will require 40 new facilities, to provide millions of tonnes of additional capacity in order to disassemble, remanufacture, repair and reuse components, and for waste material separation and reprocessing.

The document notes that current investment plans fall short of what will be required. To address this, it proposes that landfill tax receipts should now be used for a ‘revolving investment fund for the waste sector through a combination of development loans, equity investments and land purchase administered by the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB)’, working alongside ‘the Green Investment Bank, the London Green Fund and the private finance community to provide finance to develop this new infrastructure’.

It goes on to note: ‘There are many challenges in moving from the current system to a full circular economy. Our emphasis will be on ensuring the right market and financial conditions exist to enable transition.’ Adding that doing this will create a new economic sector, through reuse, disassembly and remanufacture, that has the potential to save up to £5 billion.

Consistent approach
The consultation calls for simplified waste collection, pointing to the fact that currently there are 33 waste authorities, and that each has different methods for collecting materials. This is particularly confusing for the city’s large transient population. It states: ‘If waste were managed in a more consistent way it is estimated that at current prices £180m could be saved directly through financial savings (£90m) and through negotiating a better price for recyclates (£90m).’

Noting the importance of preserving material quality, ‘an efficient collection system will need to be in place that prioritises the capture of material rather than waste. The system or systems will need to ensure that material is captured, transported and sorted in a manner that ensures the integrity of the material right through to the repair/reprocessing facility.’

Infrastructure Taskforce
To address the issue, it proposes the Mayor will establish a ‘Green Infrastructure Task Force’, to be set up in the Autumn, with a range of tasks. These include the identification of ‘new financing mechanisms and investment vehicles for green infrastructure’.

LWARB is to be directed to work with the private sector and the London Infrastructure Delivery Board to understand the regulatory and fiscal environment that needs to be in place to accelerate the move to a circular economy. It will do this by developing a ‘Route Map to the Circular Economy for London’, which will identify partners, actions and opportunities along the path to the Circular Economy. It is proposed that this will be available by 2016.

Commenting on the infrastructure consultation the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This plan is a real wake up call to the stark needs that face London over the next half century. Infrastructure underpins everything we do and we all use it every day. Without a long term plan for investment and the political will to implement it this city will falter. Londoners need to know they will get the homes, water, energy, schools, transport, digital connectivity and better quality of life that they expect.”

Cllr Claire Kober, London Councils Lead Member for Infrastructure and Regeneration, added: "London Councils welcomes the start of a debate about London’s long term infrastructure needs. With the challenge of continued population growth, infrastructure investment needs to ensure that London remains both a competitive world city and a liveable one for all its different communities. To meet this challenge, Whitehall must devolve power to London government and allow greater financial independence.’