Edinburgh to overhaul collections service

Edinburgh council is to overhaul its waste and recycling collection service for the 140,000 households it serves from September 2014.

According to the council, the new service which will be rolled out in phases, is expected to see an increase the amount of dry recyclables collected at the kerbside in areas of the city, as well as a reduction in waste to landfill.

Starting on September 1, an estimated 20,000 households will see their current 240-lite green residual bins become commingled recycling bins, a smaller 140L grey wheelie bin for residual waste introduced and red containers for some recycling streams phased out completely.

Meanwhile, blue boxes will still be used for separate collections of glass, as well as batteries and small electrical items, but red boxes which were previously used for separate collections of plastic bottles and cardboard will be phased out in favour of the larger green bin. Food and green waste will continue to be collected as normal.

Tins, cans and paper, which are currently collected alongside glass and WEEE, will all make the switch to the green recycling bin.

The council will continue to operate a fortnightly collection service, but with both green wheelie bin and blue box collections made on the same day of the week rather than alternately.

Blue and red box collections are currently carried out by private contractor Palm Recycling however once the switch has been fully implemented by summer 2015, Edinburgh council will bring the recycling service in-house alongside its existing refuse, food and green waste collections.

Communications

Households affected by the first phase of the roll out will be contacted from mid-July, stating that recycling bins and collections will be changing. It comes as part of a large-scale communications campaign to inform residents with collection calendars, posters, and social media updates used to spread the message.

Environment convener, councillor Lesley Hinds, said: We know that this new recycling service can work, as we have seen in other local authorities, and I am confident that the general public want to help us to boost recycling rates as landfill costs continue to increase.

We will make every effort to help people adjust to the changes, engaging with communities, visiting homes, providing advice and monitoring to find out which households need most support.

Recycling is something that everyone needs to embrace if Edinburgh is to become a sustainable city, and expanding capacity and simplifying the process for residents is essential for this.

Culture-change

Councillor Adam McVey, environment vice convener, added: To meet our targets we need to see a culture-change we want to help residents get used to the new service but the public have to take responsibility too.

Edinburgh currently recycles just under 40% of its waste, short of the ambitious target of 70% by 2025. The councils approach follows similar changes to boost recycling in Falkirk and Fife.