Jobs will be created in Dundee as the city prepares to play a key role in Scotland’s deposit return scheme.
Dundee City Council has approved plans to create a bulking station at the former Allied Bakeries factory in the West Pitkerro industrial estate.
The facility will play a “crucial” role in the deposit return scheme by bulking recyclable bottles and cans collected from the local area.
Run by waste management company Biffa, 21 full time jobs will be created on the site.
Deposit return scheme launches next year
Scotland’s deposit return scheme is due to launch in August and will see people pay an extra 20p when they buy a drink that comes in a single-use container made of plastic, steel and aluminium, or glass.
They will get the money back if they return the empty container to a return point.
The Dundee bulking station will be used to sort containers after collection, before being transported to a counting centre elsewhere.
Dundee is one of eight locations across Scotland selected to host a bulking station or counting centre.
A planning statement submitted to the council says: “[This proposal] aims
to utilise an existing storage and distribution unit to provide a bulking station and bring new employment opportunities to the area.
“The bulking station would be one of eight in Scotland and is key to delivering a solution for the Dundee area and as such it is a key facility in delivering the ambitious deposit return scheme.
“It is important to Biffa as many positions as possible are filled locally and as a result comprehensive training would take place thereby improving the skills within the local workforce with career progression opportunities available within Biffa.”
Local workforce will benefit from Dundee bulking station
The approval of the Dundee bulking station comes a year after Conservative MSP Maurice Golden called for the city to be put at the heart of the deposit scheme to help boost “dismal recycling rates”.
Speaking on the bulking station plans, he said “It’s great news that Dundee will play its part when the proposed deposit return scheme launches.
“I hope this is just the first of many opportunities for the city, which is well-placed to be the central hub for this nationwide plan.
“It now falls on the Scottish Government to ensure that this scheme can launch in a way that supports local businesses, boosts the economy and protects the environment.”
A Biffa spokesperson added: “We’re progressing our exciting and ambitious plans as Circularity Scotland’s official logistics partner for deposit return scheme, which will see the development of new recycling infrastructure across the country, including a bulking station in Dundee where 21 jobs will be created.
“We look forward to progressing the project in the weeks ahead as we continue to prepare for the scheme going live from August 2023.”
Scotland’s deposit return scheme, which will be the first of its kind in the UK, will go live on August 16.
