The Mayor says a waste levy will not raise taxes

The warning comes as Ken Livingstone is set to take over control of waste in London and may force local authorities to dispose of waste locally.

Newham and Tower Hamlets recycle just over 5% of waste while Sutton and Hillingdon manage to recycle a quarter.

Londoners produces 4m tons of rubbish each year, three-quarters of which is dumped in landfill sites.

These sites are often located outside the capital in areas like Essex or Kent, but now Mr Livingstone wants local authorities to dispose of it closer to where it is generated.

Waste levies

He wants 300 recycling centres in London, aims to introduce techniques like composting and will develop alternative waste treatment strategies.

But all this will come at a cost, says BBC News political correspondent Tim Donovan.

A waste levy may be placed on council tax bills, but Mr Livingstone denies that will mean Londoners paying more.

"No increase in council tax will be required at all," he said.

"The question might be, as we make the money reselling the waste products, we might actually be able to restrain council tax from going up."

The new powers for the Mayor though were met with opposition by Nicholas Paget-Brown, Conservative councillor for Kensington and Chelsea.

"The danger of this is that it's a grab for power and it's a grab for creating a London-wide strategic authority which will not necessarily do anything to get recycling levels up which is the main challenge at the moment," he said.