Glass, paper, steel, aluminium, plastics and textiles will be separated at the kerbside under the weekly scheme.
The system was first piloted for 5,000 households in May 2003 alongside fortnightly green waste and cardboard collections. The council has now started adding more houses to both schemes, with the aim of including all 35,000 homes in the area by summer 2004.
Pilot
David Riggle, waste awareness coordinator, said: “We piloted the kerbside sort system and found it worked pretty well for us. Although it's pretty labour intensive, it suits our needs because we don't have a MRF.”
Although Stirling includes a small semi-urban area, it is largely rural. Mr Riggle said some compromises would have to be made for the most isolated homes. “There are issues with some rural which we are aware of, but we will devise a place where they can bring their boxes to, rather than us driving five miles to one property,” he said.
Stirling's recycling rate is about 11% and its next recycling target is the Scottish Executive goal of 25% by 2006. Mr Riggle said he was confident the council would meet that without any difficulty, especially because of the large amount of garden waste in the area.
The dry recyclables are being collected in 55 litre boxes, and the green waste and cardboard in 240 litre brown wheeled bins. Residual refuse collections will drop to fortnightly collections and alternate with collections for brown bins.
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