Call for all bin collections to be the same across country

MINISTERS have been urged to work with council chiefs to introduce standardised bin collections across Scotland.

Edward Mountain, convener of Holyrood’s net-zero committee, made the plea as parliament debated the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill.

The legislation, introduced by the Scottish Government, could see people given fixed penalty notices if they put the wrong items in their bins.

Mr Mountain said MSPs on the committee were “convinced by the arguments for a standardised approach to bin collections across Scotland’s local authorities”.

Not all councils collect the same items for recycling, but Mr Mountain said the government should consider a standardised system and “explore this in detail” with the local government body Cosla.

While he said issuing fixed penalty notices for putting the wrong items in bins could help stop recyclable goods from being “contaminated”, he added that these powers “must be used carefully by local authorities and only after careful engagement with householders”.

With the bill also containing provisions to make car and van drivers liable to pay a financial penalty for littering from their vehicle, Tory MSP Maurice Golden said the legislation was more focused on waste and litter than on creating a genuinely circular economy.

Mr Golden said: “Unfortunately this Circular Economy Bill as drafted won’t deliver the change we need.

“In fact it feels like a reaction to missing the 2013 household recycling target than a serious attempt to deliver a circular economy.

“Factor in the proposals on littering and fly-tipping, and what the government has presented isn’t so much a Circular Economy Bill than a waste and litter bill.”

Labour’s Sarah Boyack also insisted: “There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done to ensure that this bill really is a circular economy bill and not just a recycling bill.”

Edward Mountain at Holyrood.