More councils join radical ‘green’ drive

MILLIONS of households face having as many as six bins after council bosses signed up to a hardline recycling regime.

Half of Scotland’s local authorities – including Dundee, Fife and South Lanarkshire – have pledged themselves to follow a Scottish Government zero-waste charter.

The rules stipulate that householders will be responsible for separating their recyclable rubbish into three different bins.

In some areas, homes already have additional receptacles for non-recyclables, garden trimmings and a caddy for leftover food – meaning they are now set to have six different bins. Last night, Eben Wilson, of campaign group TaxpayerScotland, said: ‘We now know we are living in the world of the bully-boy environmentalist. This idea has been tried in England where it failed and was abandoned so there is even less excuse for it to be now rolled out across Scotland.

‘A greater proportion of the population here lives in multiple-occupancy accommodation; can you imagine the clutter that six bins will bring? And then there are the extra lorries and the pollution they cause – that will be needed to empty them. It’s ludicrous.’

The Scottish Household Recycling Charter was launched last December by the Zero Waste Taskforce, a joint enterprise between the Government and Cosla.

It will help councils meet national landfill targets set by the EU. Falkirk was the first to sign up, in February, and now 15 others have followed suit.

Households will get three recycling bins – plastic/metal, glass and paper/cardboard.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: ‘We want Scotland to make the most of its resources and, as more councils make this commitment, we should see householders recycling more, while producing a better quality of recyclate for reprocessing.’