Funding Boost for Glasgow

Published:  18 January 2016

Glasgow City Council has secured funding of more than £3million from Zero Waste Scotland to help support the city's new waste strategy.

Details of the revised strategy and successful grant awards were discussed at the Sustainability and the Environment Policy Development Committee on Wednesday, 25 November.

The updated strategy, Tackling Glasgow's Waste, sets out a clear action plan for improving recycling and reducing waste in the city over the next five years.

This includes the new food collection service which the council is required to provide to all households under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Part of the funding will be used to communicate to householders about the importance of recycling in Glasgow and to encourage the separate collection of food waste.

Bailie Elaine McDougall, Glasgow City Council's Executive Member for Transport, Environment and Sustainability, said:  "The city is delighted to receive this funding which will help with the implementation of our new food waste collections and support our waste strategy for enhanced recycling.

"The council is committed to helping people recycle as much as they can.  We are about to begin rolling out a new food waste recycling service to every home in Glasgow. This is an enormous undertaking for a council which services more than 300,000 residential properties.  

"Collecting food waste from a mix of property types across the city is a mammoth operation and will be done in two phases starting with kerbside properties from January followed by high-rise, multi-storey, flats and tenements from April. We hope to have every household in Glasgow recycling their food waste by March 2017.

"Glasgow's waste is a valuable resource and if we are to become one of the most sustainable cities in Europe, we need to make sure we take full advantage of it."

Food waste collections will be rolled out to all kerbside properties from January, while further investment in the existing blue bin services for tenements and other flatted properties is carried out.  For tenements and flatted properties, the food waste collection service will be phased in from April 2016.

Residents will receive information and advice encouraging them to use both their existing and new recycling services as much as possible.

The investment in new services will make it even easier for householders to recycle more of their waste.

Elements of the project are supported by Zero Waste Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Government to support the delivery of its Zero Waste Plan and other low carbon and resource efficiency policy priorities.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, said: "Scotland has some of the most ambitious recycling targets in the UK, with a target to recycle 70 per cent of all waste by 2025. Glasgow, as Scotland's biggest city, has an essential role to play in improving recycling rates.  I am pleased to see Glasgow City Council, with help from the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland, taking steps to engage residents and increase its recycling rates."

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said: "We are happy to be supporting Glasgow with its new recycling strategy. As our national recycling rate continues to rise it's heartening to see Scotland's biggest city working to improve the services available to residents, as well as promoting them and keeping residents informed. Sustaining and increasing our national recycling rate has terrific economic and environmental benefits for Scotland.

"For example, over 60% of households now have access to food waste recycling, thanks to our Food Waste Programme which supports local authorities to make the changes. This has contributed to the increase in recycling rates and the reduction in the amount of waste going to landfill. I'm delighted that residents in Scotland's largest city will soon be enjoying a household food waste collection."

Tackling Glasgow's Waste strategy is available here.

Further information on Glasgow's new food waste collection service will be available shortly.