By Claire Warrender

FIFE COUNCIL is investigating new ways of dealing with household rubbish in a bid to meet tough government targets and avoid millions of pounds in fines.

Proposals include introducing facilities to compost food and green waste together, and assessing the possibility of building combined heat and power facilities fuelled by residual waste.

However the Scottish Executive has yet to confirm funding for the projects, which are likely to cost over £100 million and would require the employment of external professional advisors.

In addition, the residual waste treatment facility may have to be a joint venture involving four other councils, including Perth and Kinross and Clackmannan, and would involve a lengthy public consultation exercise across all five local authorities.

The two projects together would help meet the previous Executive’s recycling target of 40% by 2010, although council officials are currently seeking clarification that the strategy will not change under the present Scottish government and that financial help will be available.

The proposals, which are being investigated with the other authorities involved, are still at a very early stage but if they do go ahead, any power generated will go into the grid for public consumption.

It is not yet known where the treatment facility would be sited or how much heat and power would be created.

Fife Council is also looking at other ways of reducing the amount of rubbish it sends to landfill, and its fortnightly kerbside collections will be rolled out to include 23,000 households in west Fife from next month.

Trials began in November 2005, and the roll out is expected to be complete by next March. It is hoped this, along with additional recycling centres and points across Fife, will help the council meet its recycling target.

As a result of the new collection services, Fife has gone from having one of the worst records in Scotland for recycling to one of the best.

In 2001/02, only 2% of waste was recycled but last year that rose to 33%-the equivalent of 82,500 tonnes.

Currently, 143,000 households receive a waste paper collection service and 110,000 have their garden waste collected.

The council estimates that the changeover to a fortnightly service will save them over £23 million by 2012/13-£16 million in penalties and tax and £7 million in collection costs.

Councillor Tony Martin, chair of the environment and transport committee, said, “The changes to the new kerbside recycling and waste collection service in west Fife in the coming months will provide even greater opportunities for recycling and composting.

“But with targets for recycling increasing year on year, and the fines we face increasing if we don’t reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, means there’s always more we can do.

“Fife has already gone from having one of the worst records on recycling to one of the best so we know that it can be done. With the right facilities in place and the co-operation of Fifers, there’s no reason we can’t go on being one of the best.”