How many recycling bins is too many?
6th June 2018 | Recycling
Recycling reduces waste and saves money for local councils but with more and more receptacles for different items, how many bins is too many?
In South Ayrshire, a new waste policy will see residents end up with six bins per household, some which will only be collected every six weeks. At the council’s waste processing depot in Ayr, they recycle what they can, but currently only 52.5% of household waste is recycled, which means more than 24,000 tonnes a year ends up in landfill.
Kenny Dalrymple from the council’s neighbourhood services says landfill is an expensive choice when recycling can earn cash. “To give you an example, the costs of processing food is half the cost of putting it into landfill,” he says.
Recycling
“We don’t actually call the recycling waste any more, it is a resource that can be used and we can get an income from it, if it is good quality. With the recycling regime we will be moving to, with the quality of the recyclate we will be getting, we will be hoping to get the best income possible depending on the market at that time.”
But doing something about this will mean some big changes for South Ayrshire residents. A programme being rolled out from October will see households ending up with six bins:
- One for paper and card
- Another for glass
- A bin for metal and plastic
- A small food waste container
- A large garden waste bin
- And the main general household bin for non-recyclable material
Glass will only be collected every six weeks, while garden waste, metals plastics and cartons, as well as paper and card will be picked up every four weeks, with food waste removed every week. The general non-recyclable bin will be emptied every three weeks rather than the current two.
More information available on the website below