Green light for household waste collection improvements

Plans to improve the way household waste is collected and enhance East Renfrewshire Council’s waste and recycling performance are set to go ahead.

Article Source: East Renfrewshire Council
Last Updated: 10 March 2016 19:52

The proposals were approved when the council set its budget this week and allocated a capital investment of £1.4 million to implement the new scheme.

The changes have been developed in direct response to feedback from residents about difficulties with the current bag and box service and will lay the foundation for ERC to meet the new national Charter for Household Recycling.

Now that the proposals have been given the go-ahead a public engagement process will be launched in April which will include roadshows across East Renfrewshire to explain in greater detail what the changes mean for households.

The council’s waste and recycling team will also be consulting with those households where there is no direct kerbside or where there are storage issues in order to develop alternative solutions for these properties.

During periods of stormy weather residents have frequently contacted the council to highlight that bags and boxes are not suitable for extreme weather conditions, as they blow away from their properties.

Under the new plans, households across East Ren will receive two new bins, one for paper, cardboard and cartons and the second for plastics, glass and cans. This means residents will be able to recycle more waste at home than ever before, thanks to the bins’ much greater capacity than the bags and boxes previously provided.

Kerbside cardboard and carton recycling is also being introduced as part of the proposals, to help make it as easy as possible for people to recycle without having to visit local facilities.

The plans will also help the council to ensure it is providing the most efficient service it can. And the direct impact of an increase in recycling locally will reduce the total landfill tax paid by the council.

A change in the frequency of local bin collection is another aspect of the proposals, which will put East Renfrewshire in line with the services provided by some other councils across Scotland.

It is proposed that each bin will be collected once every three weeks, apart from brown bins for food and garden waste which will remain a weekly collection.
As it will be easier for people to recycle much more of their household waste, there will be a reduction in the amount of rubbish disposed of in grey bins, meaning they will need to be collected less often.

Councillor Vincent Waters, Convenor for Environment, said:
“I am delighted the funding has been approved to make improvements to how we collect household waste. We have listened to resident’s concerns and we are genuinely trying to get a system that will work for as many people as possible. Not only will the new system improve our recycling rates, it will save the council money by reducing the amount we pay in landfill tax.

I would encourage everyone to get involved in the engagement roadshows and help make East Renfrewshire a greener place to live.”

We will also be consulting with those households where there is no direct kerbside or where there are storage issues to develop alternative solutions for these properties.