Proposals agreed at the start of the year as part of the strategy included the potential introduction of a three-weekly residual waste collection service from April 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Aberdeenshire had proposed to move to a three-weekly collection system from next April

The majority of the £4.2 million needed to implement the new kerbside collection system had been expected to be funded by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), but the council has claimed this week that the money is no longer available.

According to Aberdeenshire, the decision relates to a review of the Code of Practice associated with Scotland’s Household Waste Recycling Charter, which is to be undertaken ‘once the full implications of the proposed Scottish Deposit Return Scheme are known’.

The Charter, launched in 2015, sets out a common approach to the operation of waste and recycling services, communication with residents, and common policies on issues such as contamination.

The £3.2million funding being sought by Aberdeenshire council for changes to kerbside collections was intended to increase reuse and recycling through compliance with the Charter, paying for new containers needed to do so.

Proposals

Members of Aberdeenshire council’s Infrastructure Services Committee (ISC) will now be presented with alternative proposals at a meeting next month.

Officers are currently considering a range of options to be presented to councillors for further consideration and agreement on how to proceed.

“We have been and continue to work closely with Zero Waste Scotland, but it’s clearly disappointing that we’ve been unable to secure this funding at this time.”

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Philip McKay
Aberdeenshire council

Other changes to be introduced under the new Waste Strategy will still go ahead – including improvements to Household Waste Recycling Centres from this month and an increased number of garden waste collection points across the area.

Aberdeenshire council’s head of roads, landscape and waste services, Philip McKay, said: “This clearly causes some issues for the delivery of the area’s new Waste Strategy.

“The redesigned kerbside service was intended to help us meet our obligations in terms of the local recycling rate and the forthcoming landfill ban.

“We have been and continue to work closely with Zero Waste Scotland, but it’s clearly disappointing that we’ve been unable to secure this funding at this time, which was ultimately intended to help us really push up our community’s recycling rate and divert waste from landfill.

“However, that still remains our goal and we are currently evaluating a number of options which will be presented to Committee in due course.”

‘Evolving landscape’

Zero Waste Scotland’s Head of Resource Management, Charlie Devine, said: “We are very supportive of Aberdeenshire council’s ambition and vision to meet their recycling targets. The landscape is evolving to meet Scotland’s wider environmental targets and circular economy ambitions, reflected in part by the forthcoming introduction of the deposit return scheme for single use beverage containers.

“As a result, we are reviewing how kerbside recycling collections can adapt to support these changes and how best we can support all councils across Scotland. We will continue to work with and support Aberdeenshire council to explore the best options to meet their needs.”

Aberdeenshire council collects around 60,000 tonnes of recyclable material and 80,000 tonnes of residual waste from its 120,000 households

Aberdeenshire council collects around 60,000 tonnes of recyclable material and 80,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually from 120,000 households and business customers across the region. In 2017 Aberdeenshire’s recycling rate was 43.7%, slightly below the Scottish average of 45.6%.

According to the council, an analysis of the residual waste collected from the kerbside suggests that as much as 30,000 tonnes of additional recyclable or compostable material is collected every year, at a disposal cost of £3.5 million.

Residual waste is currently treated via a long term contract with Suez, largely using the company’s Stoneyhill landfill site. The authority sent a total of 69,000 tonnes of waste to landfill in 2017, according to data from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The scrapped strategy had proposed changes to its current alternate weekly collection system which sees commingled recyclables collected on one week, followed by residual waste on the next week.