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Fife Council hails success of four-bin trials

Kris Miller, Courier, 07/10/15. Picture today shows Fife Council recycling wheelie bins in Markinch for story about spread of Fife bin trial.
Kris Miller, Courier, 07/10/15. Picture today shows Fife Council recycling wheelie bins in Markinch for story about spread of Fife bin trial.

A trial of new bin collection schedules has been hailed a success by Fife Council.

The council put new bin collection schedules to the test in the Thornton and Stenton area and Markinch and Coaltown of Balgonie.

According to initial results from the trial, which started at the end of September and involved 4,000 households, the pilot resulted in more waste being recycled and less going to landfill.

Thornton and Stenton residents had their blue landfill bins collected every four weeks instead of every fortnight while the green bins for recycling plastics and cans were collected every fortnight instead of every four weeks.

In Markinch and Coaltown of Balgonie, blue and green bins were emptied every three weeks.

Councillor John Wincott, Fife Council’s sustainability champion, said: “I’d like to thank Fifers for their support of the trials and their hard work in recycling even more and doing their part to protect the environment.

“We recognise that change can be challenging, and our recycling advisors are on-hand to support anyone who might be struggling with the trial.

“People can call 03451 55 00 22 or go online for additional support, information or advice.

“People across Fife have been telling us they want plastics and cans collected more often, so our trials are responding to this.

“This pilot is designed to help us get more information so that we can meet the needs of local people, develop a cleaner, greener Fife as well as reduce our landfill tax costs.”

Fife Council is also closely monitoring customer opinion of the trials.

Although Fife is on track to meet the Scottish Government target of recycling 60% of waste by 2020, more needs to be done to achieve the 70% recycling target, and maximum 5% sent to landfill by 2025.

Landfill tax currently costs Fife Council £10 million a year.

While the four-bin system has been a success to date, rising waste disposal charges could cost the council an extra £1.5 million each year if recycling rates do not rise.

Households producing medical waste, with children in nappies, or larger families are able to request bigger blue bins or, in the Thornton and Stenton area, more frequent collections.

The trials will run for at least nine months.

Fife Council’s company Resource Efficient Solutions, which has managed the implementation of the four-bin service since it began trading in April 2014, is managing the trials.