Waste strategy
Our Waste Strategy is in place to help Aberdeenshire maximise the environmental, community, and financial benefits from the waste it produces. The more waste that is recycled, the better - better for the environment and better for offsetting the more expensive cost of incineration.
The Waste Strategy 2019 to 2023 was originally a five-year strategy. It was extended to 2025 due to COVID restrictions.
The strategy introduced changes such as:
- twin stream recycling
- three weekly kerbside collections
- more seasonal garden waste collection points
- limits for commercial type vehicles at household recycling centres
- more reuse facilities
These changes improved the quality of recycling collected, reduced the amount of waste sent for disposal and made significant cost savings.
Recycle more, bin less
Too much recyclable material is still going into black refuse (non-recyclable) bins. If you sort your waste, over half of what’s currently in an average black refuse bin could be recycled instead.
In June 2025, we analysed what was in Aberdeenshire’s black refuse bins. 62% of what residents typically throw away could have been recycled, either through kerbside collections or at a recycling point or centre. Food waste made up more than a fifth of the bin contents. Over half of it was still in its packaging, despite households have a weekly kerbside food waste collection.
Simple changes at home can make a real difference. If it was put in the right bins, 30% of what currently goes into black refuse bins could be recycled using the kerbside collections you already have.
Check what goes in each bin if you're unsure what can be recycled.
In 2024, Aberdeenshire’s recycling rate had improved to 44.7% after changes to the recycling and waste collections (slightly above the Scottish average of 44.3%). Keeping recyclables out of your black refuse bin and reducing contamination helps us continue to improve.
What's next
We have not yet published the next Waste Strategy because national standards for household recycling are being updated. These changes are being developed through the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, which requires Scottish Ministers to publish a code of practice setting out what local authorities are expected to do when collecting and recycling household waste.
The new statutory Code of Practice will build on the existing Scottish Household Recycling Charter Code of Practice and is expected to add new requirements for local authorities. We will use these to shape our next Waste Strategy.
The new Code of Practice is expected to be published in Spring 2027. If it is, we expect to publish the next Waste Strategy in 2028.