Glasgow moves to AWC to boost its recycling rate

From today (August 22) the council is collecting residual waste and recycling on alternate weeks from a third (110,000) of the 300,000 homes in the city. The remaining properties are tenements and receive no kerbside collection service, so will be largely unaffected.

The move is intended to improve Glasgows recycling and composting rate, which reached just 21.6% in 2009/10 the third lowest in the Scotland. This is important if the city is to meet targets set by the Scottish Government to recycle or compost 50% of waste by 2013 and 70% by 2025.

Councillor Jim Coleman, executive member for land and environmental services at Glasgow city council, said: These days, waste is not rubbish it is a valuable resource; and we are introducing these services to try and ensure that more of Glasgows waste is recycled and less goes to landfill sites.

To succeed, we need people to use the full range of bins they have at home and make sure they put the right waste in each one.

It takes a few seconds to sort waste as you go; and it ensures you dont accidentally contaminate valuable recycling.

Collection

Previously, homes in Glasgow with their own main door received a weekly collection of residual waste (green bin) alongside a monthly collection of recycling (small blue bin). Materials accepted include paper, cans and plastic bottles. Residents also received a fortnightly collection of green waste (brown bin).

But, under the new system, residents have been given a larger blue wheeled bin for recyclables. These will be collected fortnightly and card will be accepted. Meanwhile, the residual waste bins will be collected fortnightly, on alternate weeks. The garden waste collection service will remain the same.

Residents have also been given a purple wheeled bin for glass bottles and jars which will be collected every four weeks.

Tenements

People living in tenements will continue to receive weekly collection of residual waste and communal collections of dry recycling, although these will also be extended to include card for the first time.

As well as boosting recycling, Glasgow city council hopes the new service will help it to save money. Last year, the council spent 13 million on landfill tax by having to send material to the council owned landfill site at South Cathkin in Lanarkshire.

A television advert has been broadcast locally on central Scotlands ITV franchise, STV, since the middle of last week, to ensure that residents understand the new system. And, calendars have been posted to all homes affected.

The new service will be delivered by Glasgows in-house waste collection team, which takes recyclables to the councils materials recycling facility at Polmadie for sorting.

The glass recycling collection service follows a trial by the councils in-house team but will be delivered by waste management company Viridor. The council pays Viridor per uplift and expects to pay around 280,000-a-year for the service, which includes Viridor emptying glass bring banks in Glasgow. Viridor also receive income from the sale of the glass.

Where possible, residents will receive all their different waste and recycling collections on the same day of the week. An exception to this is some residents who have their collections on a weekend, because it is deemed to be too noisy to collect glass then. The council has also invested in GPS technology to make its rounds more efficient.

A council spokesman said: A huge amount of the change has been about route optimisation, to fit in with the more complete range of collections.

Residual

As well as changing its collection service, Glasgow is also aiming to divert waste from landfill under a long-term residual waste treatment contract. Earlier this year, the council shortlisted Viridor and the 3SE consortium for a 25-year deal to treat 150,000 tonnes-a-year of its waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

The council was originally interested in autoclave technology but now is more open to different technologies. However, a spokesman stressed that it would need to meet the aspirations of Scotlands Zero Waste Strategy, which rules out certain levels of mass-burn incineration.

The spokesman said: We hope to see a recommendation about a preferred bidder go to committee in the Autumn, with financial close around the end of the year and a plant in operation in 2014.