NEW RECYCLING SCHEME PLANNED FOR EAST AYRSHIRE
19 May 2010 12:59:22
Thanks to the support of our residents East Ayrshire is a leading recycling authority.
Recycling rates are sitting at 43%, well above national targets, and the Council has been praised by the Scottish Government for our success. This is undoubtedly good news but the current infrastructure will only support a maximum recycling rate of 44% which means that if we continue with the status quo we will be unable to achieve our recycling target of 45% by 2011.
The Council is therefore going to introduce a pilot scheme for the collection of organic kitchen waste and mixed plastics. Cleansing Services conducted a waste analysis last summer and discovered that by weight, 25.76% and 20.46%, of waste collected was food waste and mixed plastics respectively.
Councillor Bobby McDill, Spokesperson for Delivering Community Regeneration said: “We are going to roll out a food and plastics collection pilot to approximately 9,000 households in the local area. Every household involved in the pilot will be issued with an internal caddy for kitchen waste with a year’s supply of biodegradable liners; an external 55 litre (approx H67 x W38.5 x D38.5cm) food caddy and a 55litre box for plastics and food cartons. It is anticipated that phase 1 will be rolled out this Autumn and phase 2 will begin 4 to 6 months later.
“Consultations have taken place with householders and there is good support out there for this initiative. Together we will continue to make our area even greener!”
Notes to Editor
• Collection days for food and plastics waste will not be the same as the existing kerbside collections. The number of containers kerbside will remain at a maximum of two.
• Plastic waste accounts for approx 20% of the average household waste being disposed of in residual bins. In financial year 09/10, 41,000 tonnes of waste were disposed of via landfill within East Ayrshire.
• Studies conducted by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) indicate that in Scotland the average household disposes of £430 of food waste each year, with two-thirds of this not exceeding its expiry date. It is estimated that the collection and disposal of food waste currently costs Scottish Councils £85m each year.
• The collected food waste will be processed by in-vessel composting (IVC) or anaerobic digestion (AD) technology. Contractors with IVC or AD technology will be invited to bid for the processing of food waste, in accordance with the Council’s agreed procurement arrangements. The intention is for collected food waste to be treated, where possible, within East Ayrshire.
• Cleansing Services is currently investigating the feasibility of utilising a bio fuel collection vehicle which can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%.
• Please find details of the trial area below:
Area Number of households Phase
Lugton 39 1
Dunlop 478 1
Kilmaurs 1349 1
Fenwick 447 1
Stewarton 3257 1
Southcraigs 1062 2
North West Kilmarnock 437 2
The Grange 337 2
Bonnyton 409 2
Crosshouse 1077 2
Gatehead 132 2
Knockentiber 277 2
To ensure the pilot is controlled and measureable the selected areas comprise of a mixture of property types and Council Tax bands. For logistical purposes the areas are close to Cleansing Services’ depot and MRF at Western Road, Kilmarnock.
Ends