recycling – Page 11 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

New recycling service drives down landfill

50% increase in recycling ‘heartening’

A redesigned recycling service in Edinburgh is reducing the volume of rubbish being sent to landfill, new figures show. Residents using the new kerbside service have seen a 30% reduction in landfill waste, with homes now binning an average of 5kg a week compared to 7kg before the change.

Recycling has also increased in areas with the new service, and has risen from approximately 2kg to 3kg per week, a 50% increase.

Almost 20,000 households changed to the new collection service – which aims to simplify recycling, expanding capacity for different materials – in September and 17,000 more homes will receive the service, which will be rolled out in phases to 140,000 properties in total over the next year.

Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, (above) said: “These figures are extremely heartening and demonstrate the impact the new service is bound to have on recycling in the city.

“There is no doubt we need to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, and I am confident that the public will help us to achieve this, as the first phase of the roll-out has shown.

“As we introduce the service to more and more households, we will continue to learn from the process, making every effort to help people adjust to the changes.”

New grey bins will begin being delivered to phase two homes this week. On householders’ start date, their existing green wheelie bin will be emptied of general waste for the last time before being used for recycling. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items and food and garden recycling will continue as normal.

It is hoped increasing space and capacity for mixed recycling will support the Council’s pledge to recycle 70% of the city’s waste by 2025.

Juliet Shields, who lives in Craigentinny with her husband Colin and five-year-old son Conor, began using the new recycling service in September, and says it has changed her attitude to recycling.

She said: “Before the new service I didn’t recycle very much, so when I saw it was happening I thought ‘I’m going to have to get on top of this’. I’ve found the new service great – there’s so much more stuff we can get rid of, it just seems much better to me now.

“I’ve become a lot more aware of the importance of recycling having a son too, and I want to set him a good example. I think people are very enthusiastic about the new bins and system and for me it works really well.”

Joyce Grieve, who lives in Restalrig with her husband Derek and seven-week-old son Christopher, also began using the new service in September.

She said: “I love recycling, so I was doing it already – I don’t like to throw things away that we don’t need to. But I really like the new service, I love the fact we’ve got a bigger recycling bin now. Having a little one we’ve had a lot of boxes and presents and it’s great to be able to put it in a place where we can recycle them.”

As well as providing environmental benefits, increasing recycling rates can save the Council millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent on landfill costs.

Visit the recycling pages on the Council website for more information.

September start for city’s new recycling service

Bangholm, Boswall, Craigroyston and Crewe are among the first areas to receive the revised recycling service now being rolled out across the city.

The new recycling service for more than 140,000 homes in Edinburgh began on 1 September, and Households involved in the first phase of the roll-out (click on link below for a full list of streets affected) will have their green waste bins collected for the last time this week before they are used for mixed recycling.

Phase_One_New_Recycling_Service_Streets

Around 20,000 properties received new grey bins during August, which they will now use for general waste. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items, and food and garden recycling will continue as normal. The red box will no longer be needed.

Those who are receiving the new service will have been sent information and collection date calendars through the post. Throughout the week, as collections are made according to householders’ collection calendars, stickers will be placed on empty green bins advising they will now be used for recycling.

Phase_1_map new_recycling_service (1)

To help the public adjust to the changes, recycling advisors will also accompany bin lorries to answer any questions and provide additional information on how the service has been updated.

Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “We are rolling the new recycling service out in phases to ensure we get it right, learning as we go, and will be making every effort to help people to adjust to the changes.

“As part of the roll-out we’ll be ensuring the public are kept well-informed, with recycling advisors visiting homes, providing advice and speaking to residents about how they are adapting to the new collections.

“There is no doubt we need to increase recycling rates in Edinburgh, and I’m confident the public are willing to work with us to help boost levels of recycling while keeping landfill costs down.”

Councillor Adam McVey, Environment Vice Convener, added: “We all need to get recycling if we want Edinburgh to become a sustainable city, and this simplified service is aimed at helping citizens to do that.

“We have seen similar schemes working well for other local authorities and I’m sure we’ll soon see the benefits here too.”

Edinburgh currently recycles almost 40% of its waste but needs to continue to improve if it is to meet a target of 70% by 2025.

Not only does recycling benefit the environment but by upping rates, the Council can save on the millions of pounds of taxpayers money paid each year in landfill costs.

An analysis of general waste in Edinburgh, carried out in 2010, found that more than two thirds of people’s bin contents could be recycled.

Now, by increasing capacity for recycling, simplifying the system and accepting more materials, it is hoped the new kerbside recycling service will encourage more households to recycle and sort their waste, helping to save on landfill costs and paving the way for a greener city.

By rolling the changes out in phases, the Council aims to learn as it progresses, helping residents to adjust to the new service by offering advice and support throughout the process.

16pp_Waste_Guide

New service:

Green bin – Tins, cans, paper, cardboard, envelopes, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
Blue box – Glass, batteries, small electricals and textiles
New Grey wheelie bin – All waste that can’t be recycled
Red box – No longer used
Food waste bin – All food waste
Brown bin – Garden waste

Community classes starting soon at Craigroyston

New classes starting at Craigroyston

We have some free classes aimed primarily at local people in our community at Craigroyston:

Cook your tea
Sometimes the hardest thing about cooking is deciding what to make!

It is all too easy to run out of ideas for offering something delicious, healthy and within a tight budget. The friendly tutor for this class has a wide range of ideas which can be made quickly and cheaply making this the highlight of your culinary week.

Favourite dishes range from Thai curry, to mushroom risotto as well
as home made lemon chicken. If there is anything you really want to learn to make, the tutor will be able to help.

Come along, cook your tea and take it home to surprise all the family and friends!

Please bring £1.50 each week towards the ingredients.
The class is *FREE.

Saving Money (and the Environment)
Small steps = big changes!

This practical maths course takes everyday situations and shows you how to make the maths work for you!

Work out the running costs of many household appliances, decipher your
energy bill, compare special offers while out shopping and even find out how to make the most of a square foot garden!

Don’t worry if you didn’t get maths the first time round, this course allows you to start small and build up at your own pace. It uses examples from everyday life that affect everyone, from recipes to recycling
and will help you quickly gain confidence in handling your finances!
Not only that, we are running this course in partnership with Edinburgh’s
very own Science Museum at Dynamic Earth and several sessions will take place there (all transport & entry fees provided).

Creative Expressions

Bringing together creative writing, photography and other forms of creative expression, this class offers a range of combined art forms. The informal setting means that everyone can take part in different forms of self expression and gain a satisfying experience.

*(This class is FREE)
And also some classes that we hope will be of interest and are very good value:

Fee is £50 for the standard 10 weeks of 2 hours per week courses – £25 for a senior citizen or student – £14 for anyone receiving benefits. (half of this for the 5 week course or a 1 hour course)

These can be booked online as well as by phone or in person – www.joininedinburgh.org

Make and Mend
Creative Upcycling Projects (5 weeks)

Upcycling is about converting old or discarded materials into something
useful and beautiful for your home or to give as a personalised present. Join this weekly course to learn all sorts of original ways to refashion and redesign things you have at home already, with a friendly tutor full of inspiring ideas and different craft techniques.

Pottery
This class teaches the basics of hand building and wheel throwing in clay and introduces different artistic styles & methods of creating successful ceramic pieces.

It also offers an introduction to the use of the potter’s wheel and stone
wear firing. There is an additional £10 to pay towards materials used.

Creative Writing
Do you feel you might like to have some guidance in developing your creative writing skills, to express ideas and show you how to overcome writer’s block?

A very friendly tutor can help you develop characters, transform experiences into storylines and encourage you to share your writing with
the group. The class is supportive and will look at wide ranging in creative styles.

NOW STARTING SEPTEMBER:

Computing for Not Quite Beginners
This course is ideal for people who can create a word/text document and would like to start experimenting with pictures and tables in order to create a poster, newsletter, invitation or flyer.
Potential students should be able to create a simple document with some
text in it.
The course will cover:
Inserting pictures from clipart, inserting photos from a memory stick, downloading pictures from the Internet, arranging text size, colour etc, using Wordart, designing page layouts and using columns and inserting tables.

Scots History through Scottish Novels

This enjoyable course will to explore the relationship between 20th and early 21st century Scottish literature, history and the culture and politics of contemporary Scotland.
The books the course will be looking at will be James Douglas Brown, The House with the Green Shutters; Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song; Jessie Kesson, The White Bird Passes; Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; James Robertson, And the Land Lay Still.

There will be a small amount of advised reading to support a deeper understanding of the texts and their historical and cultural background.

and there are many more – language, music and others – and it it would be great to have some local people take advantage of these great classes!

Fiona Henderson

Bye, bye red box; hello, wee grey wheelie bin

Cllr Lesley Hinds: ‘simplifying the recycling process is essential’

More than 140,000 city residents will receive a new recycling service this autumn, and the first of the households affected – including neighbourhoods across North Edinburgh – will receive letters explaining the changes later this month.

The new service will be rolled out in phases, with the first stage beginning on 1 September when approximately 20,000 households will have their red boxes replaced by a new wheelie bin.

Houses affected by the first phase of changes – in Alnwickhill, Blackhall, Burdiehouse, Cleikimin, Craigentinny, Craigleith, Drylaw, Gilmerton, Goldenacre, Hyvot Bank, Joppa, Kaimes, Leith, Liberton, Lochend, Muirhouse, Niddrie, Orchard Brae, Piershill, Prestonfield, Restalrig , Southhouse, The Inch, Trinity, Wardie, Warriston and Willowbrae – will begin to receive information from mid-July, letting them know that their recycling bins and collections will be changing along with additional information on the update.

The new, slightly smaller, wheelie bin will be used for general waste and the ‘old’ standard green wheelie bin for mixed recycling. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass, food and garden recycling will continue as normal and the red box will no longer be needed.

The new arrangements will be:

Food waste: existing small grey bins, collected weekly (no change)
Garden waste: existing brown bin, collected fortnightly (no change)
General waste: new 140-litre grey wheelie bin, collected fortnightly
Glass recycling: existing blue box, collected fortnightly (no change)
Mixed recycling: existing 240 litre green wheelie bin, collected fortnightly.

A full scale communications and engagement campaign will also help residents adjust to the roll-out, with information packs, collection calendars and details delivered to households and posters, web and social media updates spreading the message more widely, along with a series of informative events throughout the city.

Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “We know that this new recycling service can work, as we have seen in other local authorities, and I am confident that the general public want to help us to boost recycling rates as landfill costs continue to increase.

“We will make every effort to help people adjust to the changes, engaging with communities, visiting homes, providing advice and monitoring to find out which households need most support.

“Recycling is something that everyone needs to embrace if Edinburgh is to become a sustainable city, and expanding capacity and simplifying the process for residents is essential for this.”

Councillor Adam McVey, Environment Vice Convener, added: “To meet our targets we need to see a culture-change – we want to help residents get used to the new service but the public have to take responsibility too.

“Edinburgh can and should lead the way to creating a greener Scotland, and by recycling more and sending less to landfill we can achieve this.”

Edinburgh currently recycles almost 40% of its waste but needs to continue to improve if it is to meet a target of 70% by 2025.

Not only does recycling benefit the environment but by upping rates the Council can save on the millions of pounds of taxpayers money paid each year in landfill costs.

An analysis of general waste in Edinburgh, carried out in 2010, found that more than two thirds of people’s bin contents could be recycled.

This approach follows a number of other councils, including Falkirk and Fife, who have made the move to increase recycling capacity for residents.

By rolling the changes out in phases, the Council aims to learn as it progresses, helping residents to adjust to the new service by offering advice and support throughout the process.

However, not all streets will receive a new service – those who are included will receive a letter informing them this month.

Free compost this Friday!

Compost_giveaway_posterVictoria Park

The city council is giving away free bags of compost made from residents’ recycled garden waste to mark the return of fortnightly garden waste collections and to thank residents for using the service.

The local event in the North neighbourhood is this Friday (25 April) at Victoria Park (entrance by Trinity Primary School gate) from 12.20 until stocks run out.

Council officers will be on hand to provide information about all city recycling services, and will have some food waste kitchen caddies and liners to give to those who need them.

Recycle your Christmas cards at Sainsbury’s

Local residents are being encouraged not to throw their old Christmas cards in the bin and instead help support the environment. Customers at Sainsbury’s Blackhall can start the New Year by making a positive impact to the environment and recycle their cards at the Craigleith store.

Customers have until Tuesday 14th January to bring in any of their old cards, with a collection box situated at the front of the store. The recycling drive is part of the retailer’s partnership with the Forest Steward Council UK.

The collected cards will be recycled by Sainsbury’s and it will make a donation to the Forest Stewardship Council UK (FSC) in the New Year based on the volume of cards collected in its stores. Last year it donated almost £9,000 to help the FSC with its work to promote responsible management of the world’s forests.

The initiative has grown this year, with collection boxes now in over 1,000 supermarkets and convenience stores throughout the country. Sainsbury’s online customers in Blackhall can also have their cards collected from their homes when they receive their online shop, making it even easier to recycle and help reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill.

Sainsbury’s Blackhall Store Manager George Paton said: “We had a really positive response from our customers last year and with their help, we’re hoping to make an even bigger contribution this time. It’s a great way to continue that goodwill feeling and ensure your cards are put to positive use, which is all part of our No Waste to Landfill commitment”.

Rosie Teasdale, Deputy Director, FSC UK added: “Sainsbury’s donation provides essential support for our education and awareness-raising work, helping us to support people in the UK protect the world’s forests. Recycling paper results in less waste going to landfill, it reduces the pressure on forests, and it’s helping to give future generations the gift of healthy forests.”

Additionally, all ‘paper’ wrapping paper can also be placed in the Christmas card recycling collection boxes to support this activity [Sainsbury’s sells over five million rolls of wrapping paper each year – that’s enough to stretch from London to Tokyo and back].

The retailer achieved zero waste to landfill at all stores in 2013 and customers can also recycle batteries, mixed paper and card, mixed cans, mixed glass and plastics throughout 2014 at the Blackhall store’s recycling centre, which complements existing kerbside collections. Meanwhile, customers can also recycle their clothing and other items like DVDs and books at the recycling centre to support Oxfam.

Christmas tree recycling options

With festivities over for another year, residents wishing to recycle their real Christmas trees have a number of options:

Christmas trees can be recycled at any of the city council’s three Community Recycling Centres.

If you have a brown bin or live in a brown bin area, place your tree at the kerbside, next to your bin, by 6am on your next garden waste day. Collection days can be checked by entering an address or by postcode at http://www.greenboxday.co.uk/.

Trees will also be collected from communal bin areas during January, on the following dates:

• City Centre and Leith – Monday 6, 13, 20
• East – Tuesday 7, 14, 21
• North – Wednesday 8, 15, 22
• West and South West – Thursday 9, 16, 23
• South – Friday 10, 17, 24.

To enable trees to be recycled, residents are reminded to:

• Remove all decorations from the Christmas tree
• Cut the tree in half if it is over 6ft tall
• Do not place trees in plastic bags.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “Whether they put it on the kerbside next to their brown bin, take it to a Community Recycling Centre or leave it out for collection beside communal bins on the designated day, people can ensure that their real Christmas tree is recycled now the festive season is over.”

Festive period bin collection and recycling arrangements

For the majority of Edinburgh households there will be no change to collection dates for green wheelie bins, food waste bins and red and blue boxes over the festive period, but there will be no collections on Christmas Day (Wednesday 25 December) or New Year’s Day (Wednesday 1 January).

Collections for households whose bins or recycling boxes were due to be picked up on these dates have been rescheduled for Saturday 28 December and Saturday 4 January respectively.

Residents are reminded that bins and boxes must be on the kerbside by 6am ready for collection.

There will be no special uplifts between Tuesday 24 December and Tuesday 7 January. Normal service will resume on Tuesday 7 January.

Christmas Tree recycling

Residents will once again be able to recycle their real Christmas trees at the kerbside this year, no matter where they live.

Those with a brown bin or who live in a brown bin area should place their Christmas tree beside their bin at the kerbside by 6am on their next garden waste collection day (collection days can be checked by entering an address or by postcode at www.greenboxday.co.uk).

Residents in non-brown bin areas can place their tree beside their communal rubbish bin on designated collection dates during January – check our website (www.edinburgh.gov.uk/recycle) or call 0131 529 3030 to see when we are collecting in your area.

To enable trees to be recycled, residents are reminded:

– To remove all decorations from the Christmas tree
– To remove stands from trees
– To please cut the tree in half if it is 6ft tall or more
– Not to place trees in plastic bags, as this means we cannot recycle them

Christmas trees can also be recycled at any of Edinburgh’s three Community Recycling Centres. Please note these will be closed to the public on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “I’m delighted that thanks to all staff working together to deliver the service, we’ve been able to put in place very clear collection arrangements, with only two days without scheduled collections in the whole festive period. I’m sure residents are as pleased as I am that this has been made possible this year.

“Whether they put it on the kerbside next to their brown bin, take it to a Community Recycling Centre or leave it out for collection beside communal bins on the designated day, people can ensure that their real Christmas tree is recycled once the festive season is over.

“Much of the rubbish we produce at this time of year is recyclable, like cardboard and wrapping paper, so please take advantage of our recycling facilities as much as you can.

“Remember to check our website over the festive period for any possible changes to collections if the weather is bad.”

Waste and recycling collections may be subject to change in the event of severe weather. For more information on what to do if services are disrupted due to bad weather, visit the city council’s severe weather pages.

For further information, residents can visit Recycling and collections or phone 0131 529 3030.

Calendars for 2014 collections now online

Calendars are now online for 2014 domestic waste and recycling collections. Collection days are the same as in 2013. As well as accessing the information online, residents can order a copy by phone on 0131 529 3030.

Red and blue collection days – which are also staying the same – can be checked at www.greenboxday.co.uk.

Good causes to benefit from carrier bag levy

The Scottish government will introduce a 5p levy on plastic bags from October 2014. Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said the charge should reduce bag use in Scotland and raise £5m a year for good causes.

Mr Lochhead said: “Discarded carrier bags highlight our throwaway society. We use more carrier bags per head in Scotland than any other part of the UK and this is unsustainable. They are a highly visible aspect of litter and we are taking decisive action to decrease their number. By reducing the amount being carelessly discarded we can cut litter and its impact on our environment and economy. A small charge should also encourage us all to stop and think about what we discard and what can be re-used. This charge is not a tax but will see retailers donating the proceeds to charity – this could be up to £5m per year after retailers have covered their costs.”

Iain Gulland, the director of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “We can all reduce the impact of carrier bags by making sure that when we must take one, we re-use it over and over again as many times as possible and then recycle it at the end of its life.”

Retailers have expressed concerns over the introduction of the charge, however.

A CBI Scotland spokesman said: “Modest economic growth coupled with a continuing shift to internet shopping is making conditions challenging for the high street, which is already feeling the ill-effects of the Scottish government’s £95m retail rates surcharge and its £36m rates levy on empty shops and other premises. The plans for costly additional red tape in the form of an environmental levy on carrier bags, after significant success recently in reducing the use of plastic bags by voluntary means, will only make a difficult situation even tougher for retail businesses.”

The Scottish Retail Consortium says that carrier bag use has already fallen by 40% and there is a need to concentrate on bigger issues. SRC Director Fiona Moriarty said: “The Scottish government has decided that it wants further and faster reductions and the only way it can achieve this is through legislation.

“However, it is our view that if we focus solely on plastic bags we are in danger of being distracted from much larger and more important issues around waste. The SRC will be working with the Scottish government to ensure that the legislation is proportionate and as far as possible consistent across the UK to avoid confusion for customers and businesses.”

Free compost at Broughton High School today

The City Council is giving away free bags of compost in Edinburgh today (15 May) to thank residents for recycling using the garden waste recycling service. The local venue is Broughton High School’s car park, where bags of compost stocks will be handed out from 3.30pm until stocks are exhausted. Please note that access must be from Fettes Avenue, NOT East Fettes Avenue.

You can claim one 20kg bag at the event, but supplies are limited so it will be on a first come first served basis – and be aware that the bags are heavy so please be prepared! The council’s recycling team will be on hand to provide information on all recycling services.

The compost is made from the materials collected in the garden waste bin, to find out more please visit the city council’s garden waste page.