Highland Council to introduce new bins and recycling collections to Sutherland
Highland Council is introducing new bins and recycling collections in Sutherland in September.
Residents across the county will receive a letter in the post over the next few weeks explaining what is changing and when.
Green (or grey) bins will be used to recycle mixed plastic containers, metals and food and drink cartons. Blue bins will be used to recycle paper, card and cardboard only. Each of the recycling bins will be collected every four weeks.
Details of how and when residents’ existing blue and green bins will be changed, will be included in the letters.
All households in the area will receive a new 180 litre grey non-recyclable waste bin. All non-recyclable waste bin collections will remain on a fortnightly basis.
The new bins will be accompanied by a detailed leaflet explaining the changes and what to put in each bin. A new collection calendar will also be provided with the details of the day the new collection service starts and which bin to put out.
Highland Council business waste customers in Sutherland will be contacted at the end of September about the new twin stream recycling collections for their business.
Councillor Graham Mackenzie, chairman of Communities and Place Committee, said: “The Highland Council is committed to reducing the amount of non-recyclable waste sent for disposal and increasing the amount recycled - these changes will help make it easier for the public to recycle more and reduce their impact on the environment.”
“So far around 80,000 new bins for non-recyclable waste have been delivered to households in Ross-shire, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.”
Cllr Mackenzie continued, “Separating recyclable materials collected at the kerbside into two bins, known as ‘twin stream recycling’, will improve the quality and quantity of recycling, reduce waste disposal costs, and help maintain other vital services”.
The Highland Council received £6.55 million in funding from the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund to implement the changes to waste and recycling collections.
The funding includes the provision of all new non-recyclable waste bins to households and the extension of the food waste collection service to a further 30,000 households in the more densely populated areas of Highland.
Modifications to the Portree and Caithness waste transfer stations to support the changes to the recycling services are also included in the funding award.
The council has also approved capital investment in waste infrastructure with the construction of a new waste transfer station in Fort William, along with a communications and engagement package to support residents with the changes to the recycling services.
