Ambitious plans to increase South Ayrshire’s recycling rate have been unveiled by the Council.
Girvan will become the first area to use a new collection service being introduced in October 2018. Two new smaller bins will help to increase the amount and quality of recycling collected, while also reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.
South Ayrshire Council signed-up to the national Household Recycling Charter in 2016, which is designed to introduce a consistent approach to recycling across Scotland. The Scottish Government is introducing a ban on items such as food waste going to landfill from January 2021.
25,400 tonnes of waste a year was sent to landfill in 2017 which leads to increased costs to the public expense. At present large quantities of recyclable materials and food waste are placed in general waste bins.
To improve South Ayrshire’s current household recycling rate of 52.5%, new ways of collecting materials are being put in place. Working with Zero Waste Scotland, the Council is introducing an enhanced collection schedule between October 2018 and April 2019.
This introduces two new smaller bins* for ‘Paper and card’, and ‘Glass’, while the existing blue bins will be used for ‘Metals, plastics and cartons’. The new system will deliver cleaner, separate materials that can be sold on to specialist companies, providing additional income to support public services.
*Paper and card (new 180L grey bin, collected every four weeks)
*Glass (new 140L black bin with purple lid, collected every six weeks)
Metals, plastics, cartons (240L blue bin, collected every four weeks)
Non-recyclable waste (240L green bin, collected every three weeks)
Food waste (23L caddy, collected every week)
Garden waste (240L brown bin from 46,000 households every four weeks)
Councillor Ian Cochrane, South Ayrshire Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and the Environment said it was the right time to make a change, “Faced with new legislation and rising costs simply to sort through our waste we’re saving money by getting the process right from the very start. Girvan will become the first area to use the new system in October, which will then be rolled out across South Ayrshire.
“By changing the way we work we’ll be increasing the quality of well separated waste that we collect, allowing more waste to be recycled and releasing more value from the resources for community benefit.
“To help make this happen, the Council will be investing a £2.34 million grant from Zero Waste Scotland to introduce two additional smaller bins to households, with new collection times helping to make the system as efficient as possible.
“By taking control of this process we’re also giving ourselves the opportunity to generate income and reduce costs through the sale of recyclable materials, something that will help to balance the books in the years ahead.”
The second phase of the programme will see the system introduced to postcodes in Ayr, Mossblown and Prestwick in November 2018.
Every household in South Ayrshire will be sent full details of how the new service will operate, including collection calendars, while a series of road shows will let people put their questions to South Ayrshire Council staff. Further announcements on the new recycling programme will be made available later in the year. You can keep up to date with developments around the new recycling system on the South Ayrshire Council website.
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