Elected Member Briefing - Waste Services update June 2023

This briefing note serves as a concise summary of recent updates from the Waste Services Team for Elected Members to stay informed. Links are included where appropriate to provide further information that can be shared by Elected Members throughout the community.

Briefing information

Kinross Stick to the Six blue bin monitoring

Monitoring of blue bins for contamination started in the Kinross area on 27 March and ended on 12 April.

The Waste Services Team arranged the hosting of a total of eight stalls in the area to inform residents of our monitoring, many prior to arriving, and we also had a vast array of targeted social media on our Waste Services Facebook page.

In the first week of monitoring (27 March - 2 April), crews reported that 1,154 blue bins were red tagged due to contamination. This number decreased to 288 in the final week of monitoring (8-12 April).

Perth and Kinross's contamination rate currently sits at 15% for the month of April, this is a decrease from the March rate.

Thank you to Kinross residents who have remained conscious of contamination in their blue bin over this period of monitoring.

Twin stream service change

From November 2023 there will be a service change that applies to all householders within Perth and Kinross, and this will involve the roll out of new grey recycling bins for Perth and Kinross residents.

Currently, kerbside recycling services are provided via a blue lidded bin which can accept paper, cardboard, cans, cartons, plastic bottles and plastic tubs, trays & punnets; this is referred to as a Dry Mixed Recycling service.

We have obtained funding from the Scottish Government through the Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) which is administered by Zero Waste Scotland. This funding has been provided to allow us to switch from a single mixed collection of recyclates to a 'twin stream' approach. The new approach will see blue bins switching to paper & cardboard recycling only whilst the new grey lidded bins will be introduced for recycling plastics, cans/tins and cartons. This change aims to bring the following benefits:

Reduced contamination rates
Increase to recycling rates
Reduction in processing costs for the Council as a 'spend to save' project
- Savings target of £52k in 2023/24
- Savings target of £125k in 2024/25
Ability to accept additional materials for recycling that previously were disposed of via residual waste stream

Communication for this service change will begin with social media from late June 2023 on the Perth and Kinross Council social media channels and the Waste Services Team Facebook page.

Deliveries to householders of the new grey bin will commence from August 2023.

Householders will receive a comprehensive mailing in September 2023 with all the information they will need about their new grey bin and changes to their service.

Other communication methods will include:

TV advert (digital TV)
Digital radio
Billboards, bus stops, bus rears, bin lorries
Google advertising
School/college competitions
In person stalls and online drop-in sessions

Businesses that use our commercial waste and recycling service have been informed of this change in their start of year mailing and will be contacted to discuss their collections in due course.

If there are any questions regarding this service change, please email collectionservice@pkc.gov.uk

Communal bin storage improvements

As part of the Recycling Improvement Fund, part of the award is dedicated to improving communal bin storage areas across Perth and Kinross.

This applies to storage areas that require a change to their current footprint to accommodate the new grey lidded bins. We are currently working through sites across Perth and Kinross to ensure communal bin storage areas are ready for delivery of the new grey-lidded bins.

Litter bin sensors

Over the coming weeks, there will be 72 new bins installed in Perth City Centre, which will replace old or damaged bins.

The sensors which are embedded in the litter bins pick up the level of waste within each bin and send this information to a monitoring system which can be used to notify crews whether a bin requires emptying. This helps optimise routes and collection schedules.

The data from the sensors will also be a source of information, providing details on usage throughout the area.

For more information

To keep up with the latest updates and information on our Waste Services Team follow our Facebook page. Or if you have any questions/queries, contact wasteawareness@pkc.gov.uk

Last modified on 18 March 2024