Inverclyde Council says people living in tenement properties and other hard-to-reach areas, who have so far been excluded from ‘blue bin’ collections, will be covered by the expansion, which it’s estimated will cover an additional 4,000 households.
In the coming months the blue wheelie bins, which take items like plastics, paper and cardboard, will be delivered to households across the area as part of a £112,000 project, largely funded by Zero Waste Scotland.
From then on those households will also have their ‘general waste’ collections, from their black bins, reduced to a fortnightly service, in line with households who already have blue bins.
Environment and regeneration convener Michael McCormick (Image: George Munro) Councillor Michael McCormick, the local authority’s convener of environment and regeneration, said: “This is a welcome expansion of the blue bin service that will make it easier than ever before for a significant number of households to recycle from the convenience of their own home.
“This extension to household recycling will help reduce waste and increase the volume of materials that can be used again, and ultimately will reduce Inverclyde’s carbon footprint, in line with the council’s net zero plans and ambitions.
“We now need people to get behind this rollout and recycle for Inverclyde and for the good of the environment.”
Households which currently receive refuse sacks, instead of a black bin, will receive blue recycling sacks rather than a blue bin.
People whose properties are covered by the expansion will receive letters in the coming weeks informing them that their blue bins will be collected on alternate weeks.
Inverclyde Council say that as well as reducing waste, the project will save the council, and taxpayers, money in the longer term.
In addition to plastics, paper and cardboard (including food and drinks cartons), the blue bins are also suitable for steel and aluminium tins (including aerosol cans), plastic bottles, and food containers.
Zero Waste Scotland contributed a grant of £95,000 towards the total project cost.
David Gunn, Zero Waste Scotland’s recycling improvement fund manger, said: “We’re proud to be supporting local authorities across the nation to make significant improvements to their reuse and recycling services, influencing impactful, lasting behaviour change among citizens and supply chains and accelerating Scotland’s progress towards a cleaner, greener, circular economy.”
Blue bins will be delivered from early September, with the new fortnightly blue bin collections due to begin in early October.
Residents can call the Inverclyde Council recycling helpline on 01475 715901 for more information.
With regards the photo, the staff alongside Michael are Lauren Ferry (wearing all black), Megan Campbell (wearing white), and Luke Parker, who are graduates working in our environmental services team and have been helping develop and coordinate the expansion and launch.