'A;uld Reekie' was the only city in Scotland to see its recycling rates slip in figures released by Audit Scotland earlier this month. Edinburgh produces just over 250,000 tonnes of waste a year, of which around 63% is household waste. Overall recycling rates have fallen from about 5.5% to 5.2%. The council insisted this fall was caused by “rising population and increasing affluence”.
However, the council has said that Audit Scotland was using 2000-01 data, and that in the mean time, it estimated that recycling rates have reached 8%. The city is aiming to reach a European target of diverting 25% of waste from landfill by 2006, and received 446,000 from the Scottish Executive's Strategic Waste Fund to boost its recycling. The belief is that measures including the new kerbside collection service will allow Edinburgh to reach recycling rates of 15% by the end of 2003-04.
The paper-only collection will be rolled out to 40,000 of the 240,000 households in the city on Monday February 17 2003, and is to be expanded to 100,000 households in March and April 2003. The service follows a successful trial carried out last year, which saw 1,000 tonnes of material collected from 14,000 households.
Commenting on the scheme, the city's environment leader, Councillor Brian Fallon said: “By the middle of summer, almost half of the houses in Edinburgh will have kerbside collection. This is a great shot in the arm for the recycling campaign.”
Householders are being given reusable blue plastic bags for paper and card as well as a calendar detailing when collections will take place. The scheme is being supported by Save the Children, who will receive a 1 donation for every tonne of paper collected, and the local paper, the Edinburgh Evening News.
Cheshire
The council expects to collect around 6,000 tonnes each year, which will go to a transfer station in Seafield, before being taken by Cheshire Recycling to be processed at the Bridgewater mill at Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool.
Duncan Foster, Scotland and Northern Ireland Area Manager for Cheshire Recycling told letsrecycle.com: “We have a contract with Edinburgh city council for three years with the possibility of an extension, which includes the kerbside collection and also bring banks in the city.”
The council is also considering a scheme to collect paper from the cities tenement blocks, and has already committed to starting a green waste collection later this year. This will serve 12,000 households initially, increasing to 24,000 households by 2004-05.
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