Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Cleaning up London's air
Every year, over 9,000 Londoners are said to be dying prematurely from long-term exposure to air pollution and the latest research shows that hundreds of schools are located in areas exceeding safe legal pollution levels.
Mayor Sadiq Khan is implementing tough measures to reduce London's deadly air pollution and protect the health and wellbeing of all Londoners.
These include:
* From October 2017, a £10 toxicity charge or T-Charge will apply to the oldest and most polluting vehicles in Central London. Drivers will be paying £21.50 total during peak congestion, so the message here is clear - polluting vehicles aren't welcome. TfL and the Mayor have also launched a free online vehicle checker - so you can check if your vehicle will be charged.
* The world's first Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is proposed to start as early as 2019 - superseeding the T-charge and creating stricter emissions standards for diesel vehicles, 24 hours, 7 days a week. Those that do not comply will face a charge. This is expected to reduce harmful NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) emissions by about 50% in central London, 40% in inner London and 30% in outer London.
* London's buses
* The Mayor is spending more than £300m to transform London's bus fleet by retrofitting thousands of buses and committing to phase out pure diesel double decker buses from 2018.
* Twelve Low Emission Bus Zones will put the greenest buses on the capital's most polluted routes, with the first located in Putney High Street and Brixton Road. The zones are expected to reduce NOx emissions by 84% and thousands of schoolchildren in these areas will benefit from cleaner air.
* London and Paris will be launching a new vehicle scoring scheme to help reduce the number of polluting vehicles in their cities. The Cleaner Vehicle Checker will show Londoners how much toxic NOx new cars emit, helping them to choose and buy less polluting vehicles. It will also strongly encourage manufacturers to build cleaner vehicles sooner.
* At the beginning of the year, Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to protect London's schools from pollution.
* 50 'air quality' audits will take place at primary schools in areas exceeding legal limits of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). And ideas to lower emissions and exposure will be put forward. Boroughs will then work with schools to implement changes (using £1billion from the Mayor).
This is only the beginning... there are various initiatives being used to tackle London's air quality, including:
* Funding five new Low Emission Neighbourhoods
* Introducing the largest hybrid bus fleet in Europe
* Creating Healthy Streets for London - encouraging more people to walk or cycle
* More than doubling funding for air quality - £875m
London is also working to reduce pollution from transport, buildings and developments by:
* investing £20m through the Air Quality Fund to help local councils do more on air quality
* investing almost £1 billion in new facilities to make cycling safer and more enjoyable
* supporting the use of low and zero emission vehicles through recharging points and other help (find out more in the Ultra Low Emission Vehicle Delivery Plan)
* helping reduce emissions from homes through the RE:NEW programme
* creating regional planning policies to cut emissions from development and construction
* Free pollution alerts (you can sign up for pollution alerts in your area via Twitter and the airTEXT website).
The Mayor's office works closely with London boroughs to support and coordinate local action on air pollution. It also works with the Government to ask for support and policies to help improve air pollution in London. Further, it works with universities and others to improve understanding and awareness of air pollution. This includes a groundbreaking study on the health impacts of NO2.
6th April 2017