Changes are to be made to the way Aberdeenshire Council collects our rubbish.
Each household will receive a new bin for landfill rubbish, and the collections will change in an effort to increase recycling rates. These are currently around 44% of household waste, but if stuff was put in the right bin it would be 70%.
Week 1 – Food waste (green caddy), and non-recyclable waste (new 180 litre bin).
Week 2 – Food waste (green caddy), and paper, card and cardboard (existing blue-lidded 240 litre bin).
Week 3 – Food waste (green caddy), and metal, cartons, and plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays (existing grey-lidded 240 litre bin).
If individuals had difficulties with the new system the waste service would offer help and advice.
Glass would continue to be collected via bottle banks … the current capture rates exceeds 70%, with only relatively small amounts being land-filled which does not justify running a separate fleet of vehicles.
The new kerbside service will be rolled out in 2020-2021, with further information (including guidelines on what can and cannot be recycled) coming in due course.
The outcome should be less going to landfill. That’s the experience of other councils who have switched to this system. Which as well as being good for the planet, it will in the long run save money. It costs £118 to deal with landfill material, compared to £29 for recyclate. Another reason is that by 2021 we will not be allowed to put any biodegradable waste to landfill.
The option adopted will deliver a simple system which the same as that used by Scotland’s best performing council on recycling.
The cost of the new scheme will be £4.3m with more than £3m expected to be coming from Zero Waste Scotland. The changes are subject to that funding.
Here are the reasons for officers recommending Option B from the public consultation (which was supported by 39% of respondents):
- It puts more focus on recycling
- It is more likely to divert more waste from landfill, save more carbon and operational costs.
- The average Aberdeenshire household can manage with Option B as long as they recycle.
- It is likely to result in fewer requests for additional recycling bins.
- The wider shape of 180L bins provides a more usable space in non-recyclable waste bins.
- Three-weekly collections have worked and increased recycling elsewhere.
- More adaptable in future due to extra recycling capacity.
You can watch the debate and read the reports to today’s infrastructure services committee (scroll down to item 9): https://aberdeenshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/398705
The smallest bin on the left (140L) would have been the landfill bin under Option A, but the choice of Option B means the middle bin (180L) will be rolled out. The bin on the right (240L) is currently in use.
What a load of nonsense. Let’s try and save money, blow it elsewhere and hit the public. Oh and mind and raise the council tax to cover the cost of the new bins! ?
It’s ridiculous. The council should work on getting everybody to use the existing facilities properly before embarking on an expensive scheme that reduces the level of service to us all. Don’t they realise that removing our rubbish for disposal and recycling is the most important thing many of us pay our council tax for.
The council has tried to explain how to recycle efficiently, and will continue to do so. “They” do realise it is important, and that’s why such effort is under way to get it right. We cannot continue to dump rubbish in holes in the ground.
Well, it may be nonsense to some people but it is an issue which has to be dealt with. As a society we cannot continue dumping our rubbish in holes in the ground. As well as that not being a sound practice, legislation means we have to stop doing it. So how do we increase recycling?
The option adopted by Aberdeenshire Council will deliver a simple system which the same as that used by Scotland’s best performing council on recycling. It will offer additional capacity overall and will deliver savings of between £565,000 and £1.39m depending on how well we all respond as residents. And that saving will mean the council either doesn’t have to make as many cuts-backs or put up council tax by so much. By the way the government restricts how much local authorities can raise council tax.
Will Aberdeenshire council recover the existing black lidded bins, when they drop the new bigger landfill bins, Who has room outside their house for three bins plus a food waste caddy. Who is this best performing council that has been mentioned.
The food caddy and the two current bins will remain. A smaller 180 litre wheelie bin will be supplied after April 2020. It will be for landfill waste. Many residents will have room, but a few might experience difficulties and they should contact the waste service at the appropriate time. Argyll and Bute.
While I’m for improving recycling why did the council bother with a public consultation if they were going to ignore the opinion of the majority who wanted to keep the 2 week system and just implement their preferred 3 week option and reducing the size of the bin at the same time?
Also still ignoring the need for glass recycling which they manage to provide in the city
Who knew what the outcome of the consultation would be? And it wasn’t just about whether it would be a two week or three week rotation. As for Aberdeen City Council collecting glass, that’s up to them to decide what they do. Glass is not the problem – the bulk of glass goes to bottle banks. Foodstuff going in the landfill bin is a major problem. Too many residents are seemingly unable or unwilling to put food waste in the food waste caddy. If the right stuff went in the right bin recycling would go from about 44% to about 70%. That’s why it will be a snaller landfill bin which will be emptied less often.
Our current recycling bin is always full every 2 weeks and so is our landfill bin. And the council is changing that to 3 weekly and giving us smaller bins???? This is nonsense!
Not quite. You will have two recycling bins from 2020, one for paper/card/cardboard, and the other for plastic bottles and tubs, cartons and so on. And of course there will still be the weekly food waste collection. One smaller landfill bin will be given to residents. So there is much more capacity for recycling overall!
Well I guess that subject will bounce around a bit before 2020 I don’t need a green bin, it;s like my mother taught me from a wee boy. ” ye wull eat yer dinner or you’ll get it heated next day”” Maybe we should get back to deposits on glass bottles , take them back to purchase source and they can be used again, or is that too much work for somebody???. Charities might benefit .!!
Indeed but unfortunately we live in different times. Maybe the deposit on glass bottles will return.