WARNING GLASGOW COULD MAKE ‘TOUGH’ WHEELIE BIN CALL

GLASGOW households may be forced to ditch additional green wheelie bins, a council officer has warned. Speaking at the environment, sustainability and carbon reduction city policy committee earlier this week, Glasgow City Council’s

Sharon McKechnie insisted the local authority may need to make the “tough decision” to help recycling efforts.

The warning comes after staff were quizzed about the effectiveness of the controversial three-weekly bin collection, which is due to be rolled out to main door properties across the north west of the city from February 22.

Labour’s Councillor Paul Carey, inset, insisted homes in the city’s north east, which have been living with the reduced refuse collections since the pilot launched in October, had been purchasing additional green bins to combat excess waste.

Ms McKechnie said she “agreed” there were a number of households with more than one green bin and it may be time for the council to look at its internal policies.

Cllr Carey said: “This will affect my constituency, including people with large families and people that have bought additional bins and also people where the council have given them an extra bin.

“This going to have a huge impact on my constituency and the rest of the city. This administration now has to come clean about their intentions with regards to the bins.”

The policy, which has been met with fierce criticism from opposition councillors and unions alike, is designed to encourage residents to increase recycling efforts across the city.

As previously reported, Glasgow is trailing behind other parts of the UK for reprocessing waste.

It’s understood the rollout will continue to the south side later this year.

Cllr Thomas Kerr said: “Three weekly bin collections were a completely misguided and unworkable proposal from the SNP administration.

“It is clear they aren’t wanted by the residents, workers and unions ...While there is a clear need to improve our city’s recycling rates, it shouldn’t be as a result of slashing collection services.”

He added: “This SNP administration need to listen to the thousands of residents who are against these proposals as well instead of burying their heads in the sand over the mounting problems in relation to the rollout.”

As previously reported, petitions and surveys have been set up to reverse the rollout.

Critics have blasted the move insisting it has been driven by “cuts” instead of a desire to increase recycling figures.

A spokesman for the council said: “Adopting three weekly collections for general waste from houses keeps Glasgow in line with many other local authorities that have also signed up to the national Household Recycling Charter.

“The charter’s code of practice is clear that the maximum amount of bin capacity for general waste for houses should be 80 litres per week and that fits exactly with the 240 litre bins available to households that will receive a three weekly collection for general waste. “Where a household that receives a kerbside collection has special circumstances such as medical needs that generate additional waste it is possible to swap a 240litre general waste bin for a larger bin.

“We will also provide additional recycling bins to any household that receives a kerbside collection if they require additional capacity to deal with dry, mixed recyclables, food waste or glass. “We are aware of a very small percentage of households that currently have more than one general waste bin for kerbside collections, but no decision has been taken to change collections arrangements for them.”