Scottish Borders council launches digital tools for recycling

The Scottish Borders Recycles online waste & recycling portal, and accompanying app (coming soon) are being introduced as part of a one-year trial and allows users to:

• Search by item
• Stay up to date on collections and recycling information
• Sign up for collection reminders
• Register for timely updates relating to collections and disruptions to collections e.g. bad weather
• Play the ‘Recycling Challenge’ game to improve recycling knowledge

The new digital tools have been introduced to make it easier for residents to reduce waste, increase recycling and find out information about their collections all in one place. The app was built in partnership with software company, Routeware.

Their introduction follows on from a 2022 waste & recycling survey undertaken by SBC, where 53% of respondents claimed to have thrown items in their general waste bin because they were unsure if it could be recycled.

The recycling checking tool will be said to allow residents to search for hundreds of different products to help identify where and how items and packaging should be disposed of.

A fun and informative recycling game has also been created to help educate residents about what items can and cannot be recycled locally.

One-year trial

Ross Sharp-Dent, waste and passenger transport manager, said: “In an effort to increase our recycling levels and reduce any unnecessary waste, bringing all the most important and relevant waste and recycling information together in one digital toolkit will make it easier for Borderers to stay on top of their collections and ensure the right things are going into the right bins.

“Research has shown that 75% of what goes in the average general waste bin could be recycled. Through this one-year trial, we can help to lower this number by educating and informing residents around what can and cannot be recycled whilst helping them manage their collections more efficiently.”

Thomas Moffat, UK sales director for Routeware, said: “We are happy to be working with Scottish Borders council on this project. We know from other customers that residents really like having access to digital tools and apps to let them quickly find information on how to recycle correctly and to remind them which bins go out when.”