The government-funded body reasoned that the system will deliver cost savings through a reduction in contaminants in residual waste, which will counteract any loss in recyclate income.
The call comes after Falkirk council decided to stop kerbside collection of glass following the rollout of the scheme in Scotland, as it predicted the system would reduce revenues by more than £230,000 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Other councils have also begun reviewing their glass services, with those collecting from the kerbside concerned that the scheme will hit their bottom line as more glass is diverted. Those who collect from bottle banks say this will continue, but the number of containers at each location and the frequency of maintenance could reduce.
The scheme will see a 20p deposit placed on all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, steel, aluminium, and glass. The consumer will get this back once the empty container has been returned.
The Scottish government has committed to the August 2023 deadline, but has scaled back parts of the legislation (see letsrecycle.com story).
Edinburgh
One such council reviewing the system is Edinburgh city council. Councillor Scott Arthur, environment convener at the authority, told letsrecycle.com that the local authority is working with ZWS “to look at how the scheme might impact on the viability of glass collection in Edinburgh”.
“Once that work is completed, we’ll consider our future service options for glass recycling within the context of the budget pressures we face. Nonetheless, I feel reducing the frequency of uplift is preferable to ending the service,” he added.
A spokesperson for South Ayrshire council told letsrecycle.com that the council will monitor and review its tonnages and the uptake of the scheme and then make an informed decision on its operating model. “This may include route optimising and alterations to our collection frequencies,” they said.
On the other hand, local authorities which collect glass mixed with other household recyclable material or via the network of bring banks said they expect little impact on their current services. For example, Aberdeen city council which collects commingled told letsrecycle.com that “there are no plans to alter our existing services as a result of DRS albeit we will be closely monitoring the situation to assess any future requirements”.
Our recommendation… is not to make service changes in advance of Scotland’s DRS launching
- Adrian Bond, Zero Waste Scotland
Warning
Adrian Bond, recycling manager at ZWS, told letsrecycle.com that the not-for-profit environmental organisation has worked with all 32 local authorities in Scotland and has carried out impact assessments on waste and recycling collections in relation to the incoming DRS. “For the majority of local authorities, the projected savings from the reduction in residual waste were greater than the loss of income from recyclate,” he said.
Mr Bond continued: “Our recommendation to local authorities is not to make service changes in advance of Scotland’s DRS launching. ZWS is working through various glass collection options and will be making recommendations on the most efficient models.”
He added that the organisation also works with local authorities that are looking to improve their recycling services to assess the merits of different options, with the DRS considered part of this process.
‘Impact’
Solomon Ede, Scotland regional representative for LARAC, explained that Scottish local authorities have reacted to the launch of DRS in a variety of ways and will continue to look at the system in the coming weeks.
He added that this might result in difficulty in attracting potential service providers and “significantly increase collection costs even though the volume of material collected is significantly reduced”.
Looking ahead, Mr Ede said most local authorities “sense” that in the near future it will be essential to create a new waste strategy with stakeholders along the way to include modifications to the present day running model, route optimisation, and collection frequency changes. He also outlined that some local authorities have plans to move a dual-stream collection model from 2024.
“This includes a separate bin for their containers mix that is lifted every 4 weeks,” he explained. “Removing drinks containers from kerbside recycling bins will mean that there is a great deal of strain in completing the path between fibre and container collection. This poses a problem when crew and RCV allocations are the same for residual and recycling stream routes.”
Subscribe for free