A bid to bring kerbside glass recycling to Fife has been put on ice.
Liberal Democrat councillors said the move, already in place in other areas including Edinburgh and Stirling, would make recycling easier for Fife residents and reduce the amount of glass that ends up in landfill.
At a full Fife Council meeting, the chamber voted in favour of waiting until more is known about the implementation of the Scottish Government’s proposed deposit return scheme.
A government consultation into the proposal closed last month.
Under the plans, consumers would pay a surcharge for food and drink packaging, which would be refunded when the container was handed back.
In raising a motion calling for kerbside glass collections, James Calder said the move would make recycling easier in particular for elderly and disabled people, who may be unable to access council recycling points.
“All of us agree that we could be able to do better when it comes to recycling household waste,” he said.
“We should strive to make recycling easier for Fifers.”
Mr Calder, whose motion was seconded by Margaret Kennedy, called for a feasibility study into kerbside glass recycling to be carried out.
In addition, the Lib Dem councillor urged the council to prioritise finding solutions to flytipping.
Ross Vettraino, the SNP convener of the environment committee, was backed by Labour councillor David Graham in raising an amendment calling for no action to be taken until the effects of the implementation of a deposit return scheme was known.
Mr Vettraino said the council was “well on target” to reach the Scottish Government’s target of a 60% recycling rate by 2020.
This is despite the recycling rate in Fife staying fixed at 54.7% from 2016 to 2017.
And he said Fife had led the way in relation to glass recycling, and was well served by recycling points.
“Fife has a good record,” said Mr Vettraino.
“As long ago as the 1980s, Fife was recycling more glass per head of population than any local authority anywhere else in the UK.”
SNP councillor John Beare added: “There are almost 350 recycling points around communities.
“The percentage of glass in bins was so small as to make it worthless for the local authority to start collecting it separately.”
