Edinburgh to remove trade waste bins from streets

The city council piloted the proposed scheme early last year (see letsrecycle.com story) and has opted to phase in the policy across the city beginning in April.

As a result of the policy change businesses will no longer be permitted to permanently store their waste containers in public, and will be required to present rubbish and recycling during timed collection windows.

The rollout of the ban will begin with 5,000 businesses in the centre of the city in the next month, followed by areas including Leith, Southside, Fountainbridge and Portobello.

Clean

Commenting on the measure Edinburgh council’s environment convener, councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “Keeping the city clean and attractive will benefit residents, visitors and businesses alike, and removing unsightly trade waste bins from the streets is one big step towards achieving this.

“It is extremely encouraging to see such positive results from the pilot areas, and there is no doubt the scheme will continue having an impact on our environment as it rolls out across the city.”

After being approved by councillors in October 2013, the trade waste pilot was introduced to trial areas between January and March 2014, and the council claims has seen bin numbers reduced from 390 to 103 on Rose Street, 116 to 12 on Leith Walk and 37 to eight on High Street.

Storage

The council added that throughout the process, officers have worked with businesses to ensure compliance with collection windows, which were agreed after consultation on suitability, and to address difficulties over storage space, timing and cooperation from trade waste companies.

In January 2014, the Scottish government introduced the Waste (Scotland) Regulations, which requires businesses in Scotland to take all reasonable steps to ensure separate collection of all dry recyclables, while those in urban areas producing over 50kg of food waste must also present it for collection.

Edinburgh is understood to have rolled out its trade waste scheme based on a similar policy introduced by Westminster city council in London, which has successfully reduced the amount of commercial waste left on the streets.