Fife has been very much at the forefront of recycling across Scotland in the last decade, and the Kingdom’s residents have long been told about the need for a “culture change” in the way they dispose of their rubbish.
Most people have been receptive to that shift, and I suppose it’s been heartening more than anything else to hear people complaining about the prospect of four weekly bin collections, rather than the need to recycle in the first place.
Common sense has prevailed and the much-mooted monthly collections of blue landfill bins, green bins for plastic and cans and grey paper bins will not now take place.
But with Fife’s recycling rates seemingly stuttering a bit of late, against a background of councils having to make every penny count, you just wonder if we’ve perhaps reached a tipping point – pardon the pun.
That was in evidence this week when councillors took the decision to stop the recent bin trials in the Glenrothes area and revert back to the normal four bin system.
The trial did its job and recycling increased, but not to the extent forecast and with negligible savings.
The decision was also made to introduce four weekly garden waste collections over the winter months, and that’s something that really can’t be argued against.
Brown bins are rarely full from December to February, it just makes sense.
However, while people are being told to keep recycling and do their bit to stop waste going to landfill, we’re now being told that financial pressures will see household recycling centres closing for a day or two during the week, and also for 30 minutes a day while staff have lunch.
It’s a mixed message that’s being put out, and you just hope that Fifers can adapt to the new arrangements without going down either the apathy or fly tipping route.
The one glaring aspect that hasn’t really been dealt with is the recycling of glass bottles. We’ve heard talk of plans for a deposit scheme north of the border, and there’s a real opportunity there just ripe for the picking.
Plenty of challenges to come then for the powers-that-be when it comes to tackling climate change, cutting carbon emissions and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.
It’ll be interesting to see how Fife Council, with the help of the general public, rises to those challenges.
