The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Four-weekly bin collection may not be appropriate ‘for whole of Fife’.
Council considers scrapping one-size-fits-all approach to landfill bin collections
Moves to introduce four-weekly bin collections across Fife look likely to be dumped by the council’s new administration.
The SNP and Labour are considering scrapping a one-size fits all approach to rubbish pick-ups and implementing the monthly landfill collections only in areas they think could cope with the move.
Households in such areas would be the first in the UK to have their landfill waste uplifted once a month.
Those in other parts of Fife will continue with the current fortnightly arrangement.
While no decision has been taken yet, the two Fife Council leaders confirmed discussions on “locally appropriate arrangements” were ongoing.
It is not yet known which areas will move to the new system if the suggestion is agreed.
More than 4,000 households in Markinch, Coaltown of Balgonie, Thornton and the Stenton area of Glenrothes took part in a year-long trial that saw landfill bins emptied less often and recycling bins collected more frequently. The trial, which ended in September, was aimed at boosting recycling rates.
Initial results showed those taking part recycled almost 70% of their rubbish as the volume of plastic and cans, paper and cardboard and food and garden waste collected at the kerbside increased.
Joint Fife Council leader David Alexander said the potential for separate arrangements in different parts of Fife was now on the table.
“There are some areas that could probably manage it and some that probably couldn’t in terms of recycling,” he said.
“We’ve had a good talk about this and it is a definite possibility, but there is no commitment either way yet.”
Fellow leader, David Ross, said nothing had been discounted so far.
“There’s a feeling that if it does work in some cases we will not rule it out, but it’s clearly not appropriate for the whole of Fife,” he said.
“We need to be smarter, having appropriate collections that suit the needs of the local area.
“We have an agreement to be much more responsive to the needs of local areas rather than imposing a one-sizefits-all solution.”
During the trial the council received just six formal complaints and requests to deal with pests and fly-tipping were in line with Fife-wide trends.
But a similar trial in Wales resulted in claims of a marked increase in fly-tipping and complaints, although these allegations have been denied by the council concerned.
We need to be smarter, having appropriate collections that suit the needs of the local area. DAVID ROSS