After receiving £3.4 million from the Recycling Improvement Fund, the council announced plans last year to introduce a three-weekly residual waste and a twin-stream recycling system throughout 2023 (see letsrecycle.com story).
This also included plans to not collect recycling bins presented with contaminated materials.
The system is to be rolled out region-by-region, and the first region to receive the new bins was Kincardine & Mearns, in the east of the county.
Contamination
According to the council’s report yesterday (6 July) the council’s paper contractor, Smurfit Kappa said “the average contamination rate for the first few collections was just 3.4%” which is down from a 7% rate from the same depot in Stonehaven. Another area in Aberdeenshire had hit a 16% contamination rate.
Aberdeenshire council’s infrastructure services committee chair, Councillor Alan Turner, said: “The results are excellent and created through the efforts and patience of householders and businesses who have managed to join us on this recycling journey so far. We hope to see similar levels of quality recycling as we expand the new service into other areas across Aberdeenshire.”
According to the council, the 3.4% contamination rate mainly consisted of non-recyclable waste and some plastic items mistakenly placed in the wrong bins, such as bottles, pots, tubs, and trays. Plastic bags and soft films are not accepted in Aberdeenshire council’s recycling bins.
The council did not disclose the previous contamination rate.
Wet cardboard was identified as another contaminant, with advice to either dry this before placing it in a recycling bin, or putting it in the general waste bin.
Educational
Vice-chair councillor Isobel Davidson, said: “The materials collected at the kerbside remain the same. The thing to remember when the rollout reaches your area is that paper, card, and cardboard will be collected separately. The service will be using educational materials such as bin tags to help residents where they may have erred, and community waste officers will be active in areas where a bit of extra support is needed.”
Other regions are to receive new bins for the service in the coming days.
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