As Circular Economy Bill is published Aberdeenshire says it can't afford green waste sites
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New legislation to tackle waste and increase reuse and recycling rates has been published.
The Circular Economy Bill will give Ministers powers to-
Set local recycling targets, building on the experience of Wales, which has the best recycling rate in the UK.
Set statutory targets for delivery of a circular economy to measure progress in reducing waste and the nation’s carbon footprint.
Ban the disposal of unsold consumer goods, to prevent good products ending up in landfill.
Place charges on single-use items like coffee cups to encourage the move to reusable alternatives.
Local authorities will be given additional enforcement powers, allowing them to crack down on flytipping and littering from cars..
The Scottish Government will also work with local authorities to co-design an updated national Code of Practice for household waste recycling, to improve consistency of services and increase the quality and quantity of recycling collected.
Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said: “I want everyone in the country to experience a modern, easy to use waste service that makes it easy for people to do the right thing for the planet.
“The Circular Economy Bill with give local Councils and the Scottish Government the powers they need to transform our economy and tackle throwaway culture."
At the same time, Aberdeenshire council's infrastructure services committee which meets on Thursday will hear that officers simply cannot afford to increase green waste collection points.
With the move to a three week cycle of collections, a case was put forward last year for the feasibility of a garden waste collection service.
Currently garden waste is collected in Aberdeenshire through the network of 15 Household Recycling Centres (HRCs), which are operational all year round, and a further 12 seasonal garden waste collection points which are operated using existing fleet/staff on Saturdays only from April to October.
With over 8000 tonnes of "black" bin waste being made up of garden waste, five communities Cruden Bay, New Pitsligo, Aberchirder, Braemar and Torphins were brought forward as potential sites for new collections.
But the report comments: "The proposed annual cost to provide the additional 5 seasonal points is approximately £49,000 with a potential of diverting 190 tonnes (based on existing seasonal collections).
"The main risks identified for this proposal include lack of budget, staffing resource implications (due to operating on voluntary overtime basis), and potential to capture little or no additional tonnage."
It continues: "External funding opportunities to provide the additional seasonal garden waste points were investigated, however, the current funding available under the Recycling Improvement Fund is only applicable to capital projects and therefore would not cover this service expansion which is a revenue cost.
"The Waste Service has therefore determined that these new points cannot be provided without additional funding. "
