The grant has come from the Scottish Executive's 230 million Strategic Waste Fund to cover the council's waste recycling and minimisation schemes from 2004-2020.
Announcing the grant, environment minister Ross Finnie said: “By providing this substantial long-term funding we are helping East Dunbartonshire council meet their targets for waste minimisation, recycling and reduction in landfill. We are determined to provide Scots with much more sustainable ways of managing their waste.”
In 2002/03, East Dunbartonshire recycled 10.5% of its waste. The council hopes to use its Strategic Waste Fund grant to exceed its recycling and composting target of 25% by 2005/06.
To reach this target, a new kerbside sort collection will be introduced to East Dunbartonshire using the grant. Under this scheme, a blue box will be used to collect paper, cans, plastics and glass fortnightly. A green waste collection scheme is also planned for the area.
The council plans to retain its weekly residual waste collection but may review this service with a full stakeholder consultation if the kerbside recycling collections are successful.
East Dunbartonshire will also invest in its civic amenity site in Mavis Valley to turn it into a modern recycling centre. Bring sites in the region will also be expanded to around 36 sites, around one in every 1,400 households. The council has already received 16,000 from Corus Steel Packaging and Recycling to provide 16 new can recycling banks through its glass and can recycling contractor, Macglass.
Councillor Bob Duncan, vice-convener of the council's connect services committee, said of the new banks: “We must continue to improve our record on recycling as our target, set by the Scottish Executive, is to recycle 25% of household waste by 2006. Currently we are achieving a rate of about 10.5% and things are moving in the right direction. These new banks should help push that figure up even further as recycling is made even more convenient for local people.”
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