A roll-out of green recycling bins across West Lothian is continuing in spite of delays, with councillors keen to promote the positive impact after negative online comments from some householders.
The new bins will enable the council to promote more recycling, having dropped from its previous record highs of 65% which ranked it one of the best performing local authorities in Scotland. The current rate is around 45% of all waste recycled.
The blue recycling bins will now only take paper and cardboard. Green bins are for clean empty, dry plastic and tins. Clean, empty and dry are the key words here - food and liquid contamination are the main problems facing the council when collecting recycling waste. Such contamination can spread through an entire lorry full of waste and the lot has to go to landfill or energy from waste processing.
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It is those three words which have also sparked a lot of negative comment online.
Councillor Alison Adamsom told a recent meeting of the council’s Environment PDSP that she could not wait for her green bin, but noted many didn't share her enthusiasm.
She said: “There’s a lot of people out there very annoyed at being told what to do . On social media I was upset at one person boasting that they were not going to wash the rubbish, they are just going to chuck it in.
“They see this recycling as some kind of punishment and that somehow people are being asked to do the council’s job. It says that we are not giving them the message that it's not the council it is the council tax payer who benefits. I don’t think people have understood the message, and they are not wanting to engage because they don’t see that connection.”
Chair of the committee, Councillor Tom Conn, said: “The comments you have mentioned are anti-council rather than pro recycling. And I think they have to look at themselves and ask ‘am I playing my part’ rather than posting something like that.
“When I see posts like that I just shake my head. I don’t want to engage with people like that because that’s what they want. We need to be pro-recycling and not be seen as being anti-council.”
Councillor conn added: “I don’t think we are penalising the public. I think we are making it easier for them."
David Robertson, Waste and Recycling Manager, told the committee that figures for recycling had dropped for several reasons. More people at home during the pandemic produced more rubbish, more takeaway food containers and more DIY material.
Recycling itself has become stricter. Only waste classified as recyclable on arrival will be counted as recycled. The rest goes to burn as energy from waste.
That change has made the most significant dent in West Lothian's totals.
"That’s the biggest single drop,” Mr Robertson told the meeting.
Mr Robertson said councillors had raised valid points about getting positive messages across and added that the council was working with Zero Waste Scotland and with council communications staff to improve messaging to the public
“Where we have an individual who behaves in a challenging way, we have to address that head on with that individual,” he added.
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