Aberdeenshire residents waste less and produce higher quality recycling a year on from bin rollout

Aberdeenshire Council has revealed the impacts from the rollout of orange-lid bins throughout the region at its Infrastructure Services Committee on Thursday 15 May. 

The council welcomed £3.5 million in total funding from Zero Waste Scotland’s Recycling Improvement Fund to progress the bin collection changes in alignment with Scotland’s Charter for Household Recycling. The charter pledges to maximise the capture and quality of recycling as well as reduce the capacity for waste that cannot be recycled.   

The rollout took a year to complete, from 17 April 2023 to 22 April 2024. As a result of the kerbside collection changes... 

Chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee (ISC) Cllr Alan Turner said: “Less waste, cleaner recycling, significant cost savings, and a lighter carbon footprint. This is a testament to the hard work of our teams and, crucially, the fantastic participation of Aberdeenshire residents.  

“While the data has shown the significant benefits of the rollout, there is more that can be done. This is particularly true of food waste, which still appears in large percentages inside our black lid bins and could be put to much better use than incineration. We urge everyone to continue their brilliant efforts and help us build on this fantastic momentum." 

ISC Vice Chair Cllr Isobel Davidson said: “We are incredibly grateful for Zero Waste Scotland’s Recycling Improvement Fund. Without external funding, we would not have been able to benefit from the fantastic changes that this massive project has brought about. 

“Much cleaner recycling is being collected across Aberdeenshire. More and more people are reducing the amount of waste they produce. The more people we take along that journey with us, the better it will be for our environment. Yes, we can all still recycle more, and food waste remains an issue in black lid bins, but that also means there is opportunity there for people to make savings on their shopping while wasting less at the same time.” 

Stuart Murray, Head of Resource Management at Zero Waste Scotland said: "We are delighted to see the impact the Recycling Improvement Fund has had on Aberdeenshire’s waste and recycling service.  

“Aberdeenshire Council is one of several councils that benefitted from the Recycling Improvement Fund, which is making a real difference to recycling services and infrastructure across Scotland. These improvements will support Scotland’s journey to a circular economy and help protect our environment for generations to come." 

The next steps are to further increase the recycling rate for Aberdeenshire, where food waste is appearing at a high percentage in black-lid bins.  

4.5 million tonnes of edible food waste is thrown away each year by UK households. In Aberdeenshire, more than a fifth of all the stuff that ends up in kerbside black-lid bins is food waste. It is a lot of food that is being bought but never eaten. 

When the free food waste caddies are used in Aberdeenshire, that food waste is turned into biogases and digestate instead of being incinerated. The biogases are used for heat, power, or even biofuel for vehicles; and the digestate becomes fertiliser for agriculture. Some food waste is also converted into compost for local farms. 

Food waste is collected each week from the kerbside and residents can get an indoor and outdoor food waste caddy for free from their local recycling centre or service point if theirs is broken or if they need more than one. 

In Aberdeenshire, 

Bags for household battery and food waste recycling can be obtained from collection crews, household recycling centres, or your local library.