A London council is urging private sector landlords with properties in their patch to sign a pledge urging their tenants to recycle as part of its bid to reach Net Zero targets.

A lengthy statement to landlords from Conservative controlled Wandsworth council includes the plea: “We ask you to help make sure that new tenants know how to dispose of their household waste and recycling responsibly. It’s also important that residents do the right thing with their waste during their tenancy, as well as importantly when they move out.”

Wandsworth says that by signing, landlords agree to ensure that tenants are aware of their responsibilities to dispose of their waste and recycling correctly. And any letting agents that sign agree to ensure that landlords they work with are aware of their responsibilities.

The wording of the pledge is very long and detailed – we reproduce most of it below:

“All landlords and estate agents are invited to sign the pledge. By signing, landlords agree to ensure that tenants are aware of their responsibilities to dispose of their waste and recycling correctly.

“And any estate agents that signs up, agree to ensure that landlords they work with are aware of their responsibilities. And in return, we’ll publicise those who sign up by adding you to our website as a supporter. 

“… What you pledge to do: The pledge is simple and means that by all working together we can help keep the borough looking at its best.

– Estate agents are invited to ensure that landlords are aware of their responsibilities. 

– Landlords are invited to ensure that their tenants do the right thing when they move in, during their rental period, and importantly when they move out.

“Your responsibility as a landlord

“As a landlord, please help everyone locally, by making sure your tenants know what to do with their waste.

“Please ensure,

– your tenants are disposing of their waste correctly. There is lots of information to help you do that on our website. See section below – rubbish, recycling and bulky waste collections. 

– where applicable ensure that tenants have appropriate bins to dispose of their rubbish and can access any communal recycling and waste collection areas (bin stores). This includes taking all reasonable steps to make sure areas are kept clear to enable access to and collection from containers and providing any necessary key or access code to the tenant and council collection crews.

– that you use a licenced waste carrier to dispose of any business waste. Ensure the contractor has a Waste Carriers Licence and that a Duty of Care waste transfer note is provided showing the description and disposal route of the waste.

– any waste or unwanted bulky items (i.e. mattresses, furniture etc.) left at the property are removed appropriately from the premises.  

“Rubbish, recycling and bulky waste collections 

“Below is all the information residents need to dispose of their waste correctly,  

– Put your rubbish out correctly to reduce the risk of missed bin collections.

– Find out what you can and can’t recycle …

– Make sure you know your rubbish collection day.

– If you have any large items, book a bulky waste collection or visit the household waste recycling centre. And don’t pay cowboys to take away your rubbish

– Rework, repair, sell or fix items at a reuse workshop

– Donate unwanted items via charity shops

– Donate, sell, giveaway, plus find and buy items online …

“Remind residents of their responsibilities

As a landlord, you can help do your bit by reminding residents of their waste responsibilities,

–

“Pre-tenancy: please provide tenants with information on recycling and waste services.

– Give residents information on our recycling and waste service, ensuring they have the opportunity to separate and dispose of their recycling and waste responsibly from the start of their tenancy (see section above).

– Written information can be provided as part of a ‘welcome pack’ or via a notice board, or be included within the inventory or appended to the tenancy agreement.

– For example, you could include a clause requiring the tenant to ‘store, separate and place for collection all recycling and residual waste (including bulky waste) in accordance with the written information provided at the start of the tenancy and in accordance with the policies set out by Wandsworth council.’

– Please sure that the correct communal bins are in place, where applicable, to enable tenants to responsibly separate and dispose of their recycling and waste.

“During their tenancy: during a tenancy, check with residents that they are disposing of their waste and recycling correctly.

– When visiting the property (for example to carry out an inspection) you may want to check that tenants are storing and separating their recycling and waste and placing it for collection correctly.

– If you identify issues, remind the tenant of their responsibilities and encourage them to contact us if they have issues preventing them from managing their waste properly.

“End of tenancy: once you know a tenancy is ending, please remind the tenant of their responsibilities for leaving recycling and waste out for final collection by the council and removing any extra or bulky waste that won’t fit in the bins responsibly or by using our bulky waste collection service or a registered waste collection business.

“Landlords should note that once a property becomes vacant, any waste or unwanted items left from the previous occupancy is no longer considered as household waste and becomes commercial waste, so you will need to arrange for disposal of any waste left behind.”