How The 2012 Summer Olympics Will Change London Forever

Major public events create an enormous amount of waste and we are always interested in the creative and innovative ways organizers find to handle the refuse in an environmentally conscious manner. We’ve been keeping a close eye on the 2012 Summer Olympics in London because the programs being implemented there will have long-lasting positive effects on the city’s ecology.

Handling The Waste Stream

London is currently experiencing a population surge as countless visitors come to attend the Olympic Games. These kinds of influxes always put a strain on infrastructures such as roads and utilities, but they especially challenge waste handling. Tourists tend to generate a lot more trash than residents since, for example, they are more likely to drink from plastic bottles or soda cans than from washable glasses.

Olympic organizers in partnership with Coca Cola have placed hundreds of recycling bins throughout the Westminster area of central London in anticipation of this rise in trash. However these are not just temporary receptacles that will disappear when the Olympic Games move on. These recycling bins will be permanent fixtures, allowing residents and tourists to recycle without having to go out of their way searching for a container.

Government Initiatives

Many organizations such as the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Westminster City Council are working together and not just to place a few recycling bins. They are working on creating regulations and programs designed to keep the city clean far into the future.

The initiatives coming out of the London Olympics will lead to more recycling points, faster servicing of recycling bins and better public information on recycling programs available throughout the city. The goal is to make recycling as easy and efficient as possible for Londoners in the hopes of significantly increasing participation. So far the efforts have gone well, with recycling rates during the Olympics well above what the average is for events of this size.

Looking Ahead

Unfortunately what often happens is that people are enthusiastic about something like recycling while there is a major occasion like the 2012 Olympic Games, but then interest disappears once the event is over. In order to maintain the momentum of the movement, organizers have created the London Legacy Development Corporation.

This organization, which reports directly to the Mayor of London, will work with public and private organizations throughout the city to maintain and improve the area in and around the Olympic Park. Long after the Olympics have moved on, programs will continue to address social, economic and environmental concerns in the area to preserve the facilities and assets in the area.

Anyone can place a few recycling bins, but true visionaries look to the future and create programs that will keep environmental efforts going for years or decades after the fact.