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The London Assembly is considering on-the-go recycling as a way to boost the capital's recycling rate, which is among the lowest in the country.

The Assembly's Environment Committee yesterday (18 November) heard from about on-the-go recycling from a number of companies and organisations, and in particular what could be done about plastics.

Coca-Cola said that around half of its plastic bottles (52%) were not currently recycled and pointed to its Recycling Zone programme as how it was trying to rectify the situation.

Corporate responsibility manager Helen Wright said the soft drinks giant was on target to achieving its target of 80 zones by 2011. Coca-Cola is looking to roll out a further five zones, which could include a hospital and an airport, by Christmas and a further 15 are already in the pipeline for next year.

"We are confident that the 80 zones will achieve a positive impact on our recycling rates," she added.

Transport for London said that it is currently trialling recycling bins at six stations – the main target is the newspapers that are left on trains – although it is limited by the available space to store the collected waste at several of its central London stations.

Emma Wellman, sustainability adviser at Earls Court and Olympia exhibition halls, said making sure visitors recycled correctly was crucial to recycling on the go. Consumers would benefit from consistent labelling of recycling bins, she added.

Darren Johnson AM, chairman of the environment committee, called for "continued involvement from retailers, manufacturers and local authorities" in order to maintain the public's momentum for recycling, and in particular plastics.

"Recycling in the home is getting better, so the obvious next step is to improve collection facilities for when people are out and about," he added

The committee also suggested that the 2012 Olympic Games could provide the impetus to set some form of standard method for on-the-go recycling.

The London Assembly wants the capital's residents to provide it with information about their on-the-go recycling habits.

For more information click here.

• Wrap plastics technology manager Paul Davidson said UK recycling was performing "better than we would have expected", but admitted there was more to do.

He suggested the UK's dependence on the Chinese export market was in part a consequence of the trade imbalance between the two countries.

"We have cheaper freight going back to China, but we need to be sure that we get the best environmental benefit by displacing virgin plastics [in the products we buy from China," he said.