More than 10,000 flatted properties in South Lanarkshire will begin receiving recycling collections in the next few months, as part of the council’s efforts to boost its recycling rate.
The new, co-mingled service, will enable residents to recycle: paper; cardboard; cartons; cans and tins; plastic bottles; and plastic pots, tubs, and trays in an individually-numbered blue recycling bin, or a shared recycling bin, depending on the property.
Glass will not be recycled in the service (although it currently is accepted for separate recycling from other property types). Residents living in flats are therefore being urged to take their glass to any of the council’s six household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).
Launching in the East Kilbride area at the end of this month, the service will be rolled out to the rest of South Lanarkshire in the coming months to help the council meet the Scottish Government’s 60 per cent recycling target by 2020. Currently, the council recycles around 37 per cent of its waste.
To help make the service user-friendly, South Lanarkshire Council will now be delivering leaflets to flats detailing what can and cannot be recycled, along with white recycling bags, which can be used to ferry dry recyclables to the blue recycling bins (or shared bins).
The bins will be emptied on an alternate weekly basis with the residual waste bins.
Those with individual recycling bins are asked to place the receptacle out for collection by 7am on collection day, and return it to storage as soon as possible once it’s been emptied. Council operatives will empty shared bins from where they are situated on site.
Residents are being warned that if their bins consistently contain incorrect materials, they may not be emptied.
Writing on its website, the council said: ‘By recycling, together we can save money, support jobs, and protect the environment.
‘The materials we throw away are valuable and recycling helps the economy by creating jobs locally as well as in the Scottish recycling industry.’
Find out more about recycling in South Lanarkshire.
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.