Kickstarting Scotland’s delayed deposit return scheme could turn around Dundee’s poor recycling performance, senior city officials believe.
City West End councillor Richard McCready has written to Scottish Government minister Lorna Slater.
He has asked her to reverse her decision to postpone the scheme until August 2023.
The Labour councillor’s intervention comes after the city’s head of environment Tony Boyle said the deposit return scheme would have “an extremely positive impact on increased recycling rates”.
How much waste is recycled by your council?
The SNP-run Dundee City Council only recycles 34.7% of the city’s waste, according to the latest figures from SEPA.
That’s down on 38.4% in 2019.
The figures put the local authority in the lowest third in Scotland and the second poorest performing of Scotland’s cities.
Recycling rates are worse in Glasgow at 29.4%, meanwhile in Edinburgh rates are marginally better at 37%.
Angus is the best performing council in Scotland with 57.9% of waste recycled, while 49.4% of the rubbish in Perth and Kinross dodges landfill or the incinerator.
Mr McCready pointed out Dundee City Council was nowhere near hitting its target of recycling 70% of household waste by 2025.
He said: “Dundee is less than halfway there.
“I understand that the pandemic has impacted on the ability to progress these figures. But we are living in a climate emergency and we need to take action.
“A recent report by council officers highlighted that lack of progress on the deposit return scheme was holding back efforts to improve recycling in Dundee.
“With this in mind I have written to the minister asking that she reconsider the decision to postpone the introduction of the scheme.”
Does Dundee City Council support a deposit return rethink?
Under the scheme, people will pay a small deposit of 20p when they buy a drink. Customers get the deposit back when they return the empty bottle or can.
Circular economy minister Lorna Slater announced the decision to postpone after receiving the results of an independent review.
We asked Dundee City Council if the local authority officially supported Mr McCready’s call for a rethink.
Leaders there declined to answer the question.
A spokesperson said instead: “We continue to be fully committed to achieving the city’s 2025 recycling targets by incorporating a variety of key actions set out in the council’s Waste & Recycling Strategy Action Plan 2020-25.”
Has the Scottish Government provided extra funding for recycling in Dundee?
A Scottish Government spokesperson said they had provided additional funding.
The cash has been invested in “technological improvements” for recycling fleet vehicles in the city.
Referring to the deposit return scheme delay, he said: “Implementing a scheme on this scale is a massive national undertaking.
“It involves thousands of producers and retailers.
“Given the challenges of the pandemic and Brexit it is disappointing – but understandable – that an independent review concluded the original start date was no longer feasible.”
