In 2019, Zero Waste Scotland announced that food recycling had increased by more than 40%, meaning we are certainly en route to hitting those targets. With a variation though in access to composting, as well as differences in how council areas collect and recycle food and garden waste, we set Laura Frances the task of answering:
How do council areas across Scotland differ when it comes to collection costs and waste disposal methods, and how can we ensure that we are reducing household food and garden waste as much as possible?
Whether or not you have a garden waste bin, and whether it falls under kerbside collection, will depend on the council area in which you live. You may have to pay for an annual permit, while others get theirs for free.
Of the 32 local authorities in Scotland, only a handful have yet to introduce any kerbside collection fees*, including East and West Lothian, North and South Lanarkshire, and South Ayrshire councils.
As of 2023, Glasgow City Council and East Renfrewshire Council are the most expensive, with fees of £50 per year being introduced*. Highland Council comes in second at £47.75, and collections under Dundee City Council come in at a cost of £42.50 per year.
These fees commonly include fortnightly kerbside collections, usually between the months of March and November, with some council areas tapering their collection frequency over the winter months.
Whilst it is a statutory right to have your general refuse collected, garden waste is not one of the specified materials in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations (2012) which local authorities are required to collect for recycling.
This means that the cost of kerbside collection and disposal of food and garden waste falls on the council and, given the increase in budget cuts across the board and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, it is easy to see why councils have introduced fees wherever possible to make up for financial shortfalls.
Under Glasgow City Council up until this year for example, a brown bin for garden and food waste came free of charge for residents, with fortnightly kerbside collections. As of October 2023 however, Glasgow City Council has introduced an annual fee of £50 for residents - a decision which has caused major controversy.
Glasgow City Council’s reasoning for the introduction of the annual fee states,
“The collection of garden waste is not a statutory service, and with reducing budgets and increasing costs, the Council can no longer afford to operate this type of collection as a free service.”
Though the decision to introduce kerbside collection fees has been controversial, it will certainly help in closing large financial gaps for councils due to ongoing budget cuts.
Moray Council for example, have announced that from 2024, garden waste collection costs are set to rise by 39%, going from £36 to £50 per year, stating that the reason behind the price increase is to close a massive financial gap of £15 million over the next two years.
Midlothian Council has followed suit, with collection fees increase from £35 per year to £40 per year in a bid to save over £13.5 million due to cuts in funding from the Scottish Government, with the alternative option being to stop kerbside collections altogether.
In areas such as Aberdeenshire and Argyll & Bute, residents are not provided with a bin for garden and food waste, and home composting is encouraged where possible, with the option to dispose of waste at a local recycling centre.
While this seems like a positive incentive to compost at home, it certainly poses a problem for those who are unable, or who have larger quantities of garden waste of which to dispose. It is often difficult for those who may have access issues due to living in a rural location or for those who do not have access to a car.
When Scotland Grows readers were asked for their views on this issue, many had similar complaints: local recycling centres are not always accessible, particularly for elderly residents who enjoy gardening but cannot necessarily make the journey to the recycling point.
Anyone who is familiar with attending their local recycling centre, will understand that it can be a physically demanding task, presenting more problems than solutions for some.
Claims that food and garden waste taken to local recycling points ends up in landfill and a lack of evidence-based information to refute those claims, leads to suspicions about how diligent local councils are being when it comes to waste reduction.
When food waste goes to landfill, it decomposes and produces methane, a gas that is 25% more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. According to the Office for National Statistics, food waste is responsible for 8% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Another issue resulting from a fee-based collection service and lack of access to recycling points, is the increase in fly-tipping. According to an article by The Scotsman, figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request, revealed that there were a total of 60,405 fly-tipping incidents across Scotland in 2022 alone, with Glasgow City topping the list at 19,313 reports.
Whether it be bags of garden waste dumped at the roadside or large pieces of unwanted furniture abandoned on empty land, fly-tipping has a significant environmental impact, with Zero Waste Scotland stating that it costs over £8.9 million per year to carry out cleanup operations.
Some people also resort to placing their food and garden waste in their general household bins in order to avoid paying for collection permits. This leaves a huge gap in opportunity when it comes to increasing recycling and composting across Scotland, and sets us further back from reaching our waste reduction targets.
While council areas may have differing methods of green waste retrieval and disposal, others are ensuring that garden waste is being put to good use once it reaches the recycling centre.
Dundee City Council for example, has a programme called ‘Discovery Compost’ which ensures waste from brown wheelie bins, as well as waste from local parks and commercial sites, is turned into compost which can then be purchased by local residents and businesses. Part of the council’s plan to reduce its carbon footprint and create an end product that can continuously be put back into the community, prices start from £1 per bag of compost, and increase to £9.60 per tonne for commercial businesses.
In the discussion in our Scotland Grows Readers’ Group, local readers agreed that the reason behind the charges may be to offset a rise in charges for other services, thus benefitting everyone in the long-run.
Given the rise in costs for kerbside collections, along with council budget cuts, and the possibility of waste going to landfill rather than being recycled back into the community, it seems there is one common denominator which would significantly reduce waste by 2025.
By making home and community composting accessible to everyone, this would perhaps help follow a plan similar to that of Dundee City Council, working towards continuously giving back to both the community and the environment, reducing our carbon footprint in the process.
It is essential in the midst of a climate crisis to have important conversations with our councillors and politicians and to engage with those in our community, so that we can work together towards waste reduction, creating a sustainable environment for us all to live in.
For more information on composting and how to get the most out of your garden, visit the Scotland Grows website. You can also read this helpful article from the previous issue by Eli Appleby-Donald, on how to get started with home composting.
*correct at November 2023