Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Deposit return plan can be a glass act
Scheme will slash recycling in bins
JUDITH TONNER
I n t roduc t i o n o f Scotland’s deposit return scheme is expected to result in a “significant reduction” of up to 90 per cent of the amount of bottles and glass recycled in North Lanarkshire Council bins – and could u l t i m at e l y lead to changes in the kerbside collection system in future years.
The Scottish Government announced plans earlier this year to introduce a 20p premium on the cost of all drinks purchased in single-use containers, such as plastic and glass bottles and aluminium cans; with the cost then able to be reclaimed when the container is recycled.
A total of 13,075 tonnes of glass,metal and plastic were collected in North Lanarkshire’s kerbside collections during 20182019; and a report for councillors notes that expert indications are that “there could be as much as 80 to 90 per cent reduction when the deposit return scheme ( DRS) is operational” which could res u l t in “very little to collect from the kerbside”.
Councillors on the environment committee were told in a report at their meeting this week: “These items are the main materials found in North Lanarkshire’s greentopped bin for glass, metals and plastics.
“When the DRS is implemented and these figures come to fruition, this then leaves the council with a decision on how to collect the remaining 10 to 20 per cent of recycling that will remain within [ that] stream.
“The likelihood is there will be two options – reduce the frequency of glass, metals and plastics collection and perhaps collect once every six to eight weeks; [or] remove this collection altogether and move the remaining items into one of the other two bins.
“No final decision will be taken on any change to the waste service until after at least six months of the DRS being operational, so as to provide an indication of the effect on the collection scheme.”
The nationwide deposit initiative scheme is likely to come into effect in 2021, with the premium incentive aiming to improve container recycling rates from 50 to 90 per cent in three years.
Councillors were informed that the diversion of bottles and cans out of household bins “will definitely have a negative impact on the council’s overall recycling rate”; and that the potential reduction in collection of glass, metal and plastic “will almost certainly result in savings through collection frequencies, reduced disposal costs, a reduction in fleet to accommodate revised collections and clean-up costs for litter”.
The report adds : “Placing a value on drinks containers is expected [to] have a very positive impact on the levels of litter in the area.
“It is highly unlikely that people will be as liable to simply discard plastic bottles as litter – and even if they are discarded, evidence from other countries suggests that these bottles are then recovered by other members of the public due to their value.”
“It is hoped that this reduction will also result in an overall change in attitude to littering for other items [which] should see the levels of littering in our streets, open areas and town centres decrease.”