RECYCLING rates in Greenwich have come under attack from Tory councillors within the borough.

The amount of waste recycled in both 2001/02 and 2002/03 was just seven per cent, according to new figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Conservative councillors have slammed the figures and called on the council to re-think its green strategy.

Councillor Chris Taylor, who represents Coldharbour and New Eltham, said: "It's a pretty appalling record for Greenwich to come so low on the list, particularly when our neighbours in Bexley saw 23 per cent of their waste recycled in 2002/03.

"These figures are made worse by the council making a fanfare about being a green borough with things like Cleansweep.

"We have to go back to the drawing board."

Councillor Angela Cornforth, Greenwich Council's cabinet member for environment, says the borough has come a long way in the last year and was currently recycling 16 per cent of household waste.

She said: "We expect this to increase further when our state-of-the-art materials recycling facility comes on-line."

Meanwhile, Lewisham also performed badly in the Defra figures.

The amount of waste recycled in 2002/03 was seven per cent, just one per cent more than the previous year.

A council spokesman said: "Our rate of recycling has increased each year from 2000. We have just extended the green box kerbside recycling scheme, providing the additional facility for householders to put out metal cans and glass bottles for collection."

Greenwich and Lewisham's next recycling targets have been set at 18 per cent for 2005/06.