Council chiefs have unveiled a £63,000 plan to clean up Perth city centre.
It follows months of complaints about scavenging gulls regularly ripping open kerbside rubbish sacks, leaving a mess of discarded packaging, tins and teabags.
Perth and Kinross Council now want to install more than 40 dedicated “bin hubs” throughout the centre. Residents and businesses will be encouraged to dump their rubbish in the communal tubs, rather than leaving them exposed on the pavement.
The scheme will mean the end of free pink sacks for city centre properties, making a saving of £3,500 a year.
However the plan will not address concerns over a lack of recycling services, after it emerged 4,000 houses and flats across Perth and Kinross only have facilities for general waste.
In a report to the council’s environment committee, community waste adviser Lucy Garthwaite said: “Residents migrating to the new service would no longer be required to present their waste to the pavement twice weekly, or store waste between collections.
“Instead, they would use a communal bin to dispose of their waste whenever was convenient to them.”
She said: “By providing residents with a convenient way to dispose of their domestic waste, this proposal will mean that no bin bags should be left on the pavements to be uplifted by the bin crews.
“This will reduce manual handling for the crews and will also greatly assist the street sweeping teams who frequently have to be diverted from normal duties to collect bags that are presented too late for collection, or on the wrong day or where bags have been ripped.”
The number of 1,280-litre containers at each point will be calculated based on each household producing about 240 litres of rubbish per week, approximately two or three sackfuls.
In some areas, screening will be considered to hide the hubs and protect the visual amenity of the city centre.
Ms Garthwaite said: “Bin hubs have been placed away from shops and ground floor properties to ensure that no homes or businesses are adversely affected by the visual aspect of bin, or any odour or noise.
“We have also ensured that no parking spaces have been used. Some bins are placed on roads, but in areas such as loading bays or on double yellow lines. This ensures that no residents with a parking permit or business will be affected by reduced levels of parking spaces.”
If approved at this week’s committee meeting, the plan could be rolled out by the end of next year.
