Asset Disposal in Greater London

The UK's government are currently attending a UN conference on climate change and trying to find ways to curb our greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, London's Mayor is attempting to curb excessive waste disposal by Businesses and corporations.

The mayor has implemented a number of recycling initiatives to reduce waste. This year alone the Congestion charge was extended to cover greater London . The aim is to increase the amount of waste being recycled from the 20 percent predicted in 2003 to over 60 percent.

Londoners produce 3.4 million tonnes of rubbish each year, a large proportion of which is electrical and electronic waste. The implementation of the WEEE directive in 2007 aimed to curb this problem by getting us to recycle our old Televisions, computers and general electrical waste. In Greater London, where businesses predominate, the issue of waste electronic equipment is more predominant and constitutes the majority of hardware disposed of each year.

London businesses are constantly uprgading computer systems, buying replacement shredders and replacing out-of-date photocopiers, faxes and printers. The waste by-product was previously discarded in the general waste stream, which ended up on a barge heading for an incinerator further down the Thames Estury.

The Recycle for London initiative, founded by and headed up by the Mayor of London, was implemented to help reduce this waste. Long before the WEEE directive came into force, London businesses were recycling their paper, plastics and toner cartridges. The WEEE directive meant that it became a legal requirement for offices to recycle their old electronics as well. In Greater London, this has had the impact of many new Companies springing up to meet with the demands of the thousands of businesses needing to recycle their old computers, servers, faxes, photocopiers and printers.

It's also had the added effect of reducing the work carried out by waste disposal firms in London, which are funded by Council taxes. The result, in the long term will be a redistribution of the cash gleaned from taxes into more urgent sectors.

Tower of London

The Tower of London and Dover Castle were the strongest castles of medieval England. There are those who would put Dover first and London second, but this is a matter of preference. Both castle retain their majesty in spite of extensive later mutilation. It must be admitted that Dover makes the most of its glorious position; whereas the Tower derives no advantages from its site.

Squatting on the north bank of the Thames, and now overshadowed by the glass skyscrapers of the City, the grandeur of the complex is not immediately apparent. Nevertheless, its sheer size-eighteen acres-cannot fail to impress and the majestic keep and concentric curtains are visible from all directions. The prime role of the Tower was to overawe the defiant citizens of the capital. This may seem less strategic than Dover's coastal defense, but English kings generally had more to fear from their own subjects than from external attack. One claim can never be denied. That is the fact that, in terms of historic intensity, the Tower has no equal.

The interior of the White Tower is somewhat obscured by the vast array of arms and armor on display. This magnificent collection recalls one of the chief functions of the Tower of London as its use as a palace declined - that of arsenal and armory for the realm. Until 1812, it housed the mint and the Crown Jewels are still entrusted to the Tower's safe keeping.

Above all, the Tower is celebrated for the sinister events arising from its use as a prison for illustrious captives, many of who languished here en route to the block. Indeed, imprisonment within the Tower, and decapitation on Tower Hill, were jealously guarded privileges of the nobility. A list of victims reads like a roll call of tragic heroes and villains.