Fife Council has become the fifth local authority to sign up to Scotland’s Resource Sector Commitment.

Developed by Zero Waste Scotland to support delivery of the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan, the commitment, which first launched in 2013, serves as a goal for resource management companies.

It asks any organisation involved in providing waste or resource management services to commercial customers in Scotland to agree to:

• provide customers with ‘high-quality recycling services’ (supported by clear communications and consistent with legal requirements);
• give advice on preventing waste and using resources efficiently;
• have ‘user-friendly’ contracts and charging structures; and
• enable customers to give feedback.

It is hoped that these steps will promote continuous improvement, bolster customer service, and enable businesses to reduce waste and be more resource efficient.

Fife Council said it has signed up to the commitment as part of its efforts to improve its commercial waste services, which cover around 3,000 businesses.

As part of the service, the council also offers one-to-one consultations to help businesses with their waste, with a contract assistants offering advice on container sizes, costs and service choices.

‘Operating at the highest level of customer service’

Elaine Devine, Service Manager for Commercial Operations at Fife Council, said: “Excellent customer service is at the heart of our commercial waste service operation. We believe it is very important to help and support our customers manage their waste in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Achieving the Resource Sector Commitment kite mark helps demonstrate this, so we are delighted to be able to sign up to this Zero Waste Scotland initiative.”

Welcoming the new signatory, Andrew Dickson, Resource Industry Manager at Zero Waste Scotland, said: “We’re delighted that Fife Council has become the latest local authority to sign up to the Scottish Resource Sector Commitment.

“The council is aiming to put excellent customer service at the heart of its commercial resource management service, tailoring its offering to individual customers’ needs, and being flexible and responsive to any changes required. The council has also set up a broad range of reliable channels of communication, which is extremely important.”

Dickson urged other “providers and contractors who are committed to excellence” to sign up to the commitment “to show their customers and stakeholders that they are operating at the highest level of customer service”.

Find out more about Scotland’s Resource Sector Commitment.