These 10 Facts About London's Waste Will Blow Your Mind

London creates huge amounts of rubbish, and yet the city has some of the lowest recycling rates in the UK. Thankfully, you can help by adding a recycling bin to your home — because one bin is rubbish.

1. Every year, London authorities collect the equivalent of 1,500 50-metre swimming pools full of waste from the capital.

That’s 3.7 million tonnes each year.

2. Each person residing in London produces two grizzly bears’ weight worth of waste in one year. Imagine having two grizzly bears of rubbish following you around by the end of the year. Now imagine a pair for each year you’ve lived in London...

The city collects 428.8kg of household waste per person in a single year. Grizzly bears can weigh between 180kg and 360kg.

3. Meanwhile, the average London household produces about a car’s weight worth of waste each year. Imagine if you had to store that waste in your living room instead of the council taking it away.

The average London household produces nearly one tonne (970kg) of waste per year.

4. London residents discard 19% of their groceries in food waste. That’s throwing out one of every five things you buy.

That’s 7.3 million tonnes of food waste discarded each year across the UK. This assumes London residents waste the typical amount of food in relation to the rest of the UK population.

5. The largest London sewage blockage ever discovered weighed more than 17 elephants, and it was composed of rubbish that should not be flushed down the drain.

The “fatberg” weighed 130 tonnes. Nappies, condoms, and animal fats solidify in sewers to form fatbergs that clog subterranean pipes. This is the result when you flush things down the drain that don’t belong there.

6. Each year, London throws away the weight equivalent of 42,000 London buses in edible food. That’s food that was not spoiled, but was still discarded.

In London, we throw away 890,000 tonnes of food from our homes of which 540,000 tonnes (equivalent to the weight of 42,000 London buses) could have been eaten.

7. London councils incinerate enough rubbish to equal the weight of 15 giant redwood trees. Imagine burning 15 redwoods every year!

London incinerates 20,000 tonnes of waste in non-EfW (Energy from Waste) facilities. While EfW facilities are state-of-the-art energy-recovery centers that incinerate the rubbish to generate power, non-EfW facilities simply burn waste to reduce its volume.

8. If every Londoner recycled one more glass jar every week, the capital could save enough glass in a single year to replace half of the windows on the Shard.

London would save 10,000 tonnes of glass from being thrown away every year. That’s more than half the weight of the glass on the Shard.

9. Every year, London councils send the weight equivalent of 75 Eiffel Towers into landfills.

London councils send 751,000 tonnes of waste into landfills each year.

10. If trends continue, a rising population of Londoners will produce enough rubbish to require an additional 500,000 refuse trucks on London’s roads each year.

500,000 is a huge number of trucks! Where would they all fit? The streets are crowded enough as is!

The numbers are staggering, but helping is easy. Start by adding a new bin dedicated to recycling in your home — because one bin is rubbish.

Recycle for London has more information to help you sort your recycling and do your part to reduce London's waste.