In partnership with ReLondon, Hounslow Council has launched Heston In The Loop, a pioneering environmental initiative that aims to transform Heston into a thriving circular neighbourhood.

The primary objective of the sustainable neighbourhood model is to introduce circular economy solutions that empower individuals, schools, and businesses in the Heston area to waste less and reuse, repair and recycle more.   

Hounslow and ReLondon have developed sustainable practices that benefit residents, visitors, and businesses, reducing Hounslow’s carbon footprint and helping residents save money amid an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis.

The Council has collaborated with local organisations and small to medium-sized circular businesses to provide the Heston community with enhanced access to sustainable consumption choices.

The official launch was marked by the leader of Hounslow Council, Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, at one of the project’s low-carbon Eco Refill events at Springwell School in Heston on Thursday. The Eco Refill events involve pupils’ selling’ their reusable products to teachers and parents – this helps the school’s community cut down on plastic waste.   

Heston In The Loop will be underway for 18 months and is being delivered with the target of rolling out its engagement strategies to other London councils.

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, leader of Hounslow Council, said: ‘We are delighted to collaborate with ReLondon on Heston In The Loop as it represents a significant step forward in Council efforts to create a more sustainable and resourceful borough.

“By embracing low carbon neighbourhoods, we can effectively address waste reduction, protect our environment, and empower residents to waste less, reuse more, and ultimately save money.

“Heston In The Loop is an exemplar project, with learnings and successful engagement techniques set to become a blueprint for other boroughs to follow.

“We hope to lay down a marker for circular neighbourhood transformation in London, as well as helping to guide councils across the United Kingdom.’

Antony Buchan, head of programme local authority support at ReLondon, said: ‘We are delighted to collaborate with Hounslow Council on Heston in the Loop to create a sustainable and circular neighbourhood.   

“Engaging communities with new ways of reducing their waste while saving money and getting to know their neighbours through initiatives like ‘Heston in the Loop’ are essential in encouraging people to form new sustainable behaviours while helping councils and businesses to create thriving neighbourhoods – delivering both positive environmental and economic outcomes.   

“Establishing a low carbon, circular economy can help build wider resilience against the cost of living and climate crises. Councils can start to achieve this by implementing local community engagement interventions and engaging with circular business innovators through this circular neighbourhood model.’  

Selected circular initiatives have been ongoing since April 2023, with the project’s partners already impacting Heston. These include:  

Pupils Profit: three schools in Heston have launched ECO Refill Shops with the support of Pupil’s Profit. These monthly events allow parents and teachers to refill household products, reducing single-use plastic and saving 135 plastic bottles from waste to date.

Cultivate London and Heston Action Group: these partners organise community food growing sessions that raise awareness about the benefits of reduction, repair, reuse, and recycling in food growing while enabling residents to harvest fresh, locally grown produce.

Traid: a Repair Café was held at Heston Community Centre, with 380 kilograms of clothing, shoes, and small electrical appliances saved from landfill through a donation drive.

Too Good To Go, Ferris, and Olio: these partners’ apps help businesses and residents to share unwanted food, clothes, and household goods.

Hounslow Council and ReLondon will work with different circular partners throughout the two-year project.  

Circular businesses such as Zero, Team Repair, Green Salon Collective, The Recycled Candle Company, and A Good Thing will all become active partners in July, adding to the low-carbon innovation already in Heston.

Hounslow’s Heston In The Loop aims to create a low-waste neighbourhood in the Heston area that embraces the circular model of production and consumption. This will form a basis for the model to roll out throughout the borough and London. 

In 2019, Hounslow Council declared a climate emergency. The Council committed to taking bold action to reduce its carbon footprint and identified measures towards achieving a zero-carbon borough by 2030 in its Climate Emergency Action Plan.

ReLondon – formerly London Waste and Recycling Board – is a partnership between the Mayor of London and the London boroughs to improve waste and resource management and transform the city into a leading low-carbon circular economy. Its mission is to make London a global leader in sustainable ways to live, work and prosper by revolutionising our relationship with stuff. ReLondon is a statutory body chaired by the Mayor of London.

 

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