Edinburgh litter bins should double as recycling bins

Lib Dems' Councillor Jack Caldwell won a key vote in the City Chambers today to explore upgrading litter bins in Edinburgh's parks and streets into double-capacity litter and recycling bins.

This follows a trial in the city centre from previous years.

Speaking after the vote, Councillor Caldwell said "Edinburgh's main high streets and parks, including Leith Walk in my own ward, give a real opportunity for us to up our recycling game. It's essential that we play our part in reducing the billions in annual plastic waste the UK - especially after another delay to Scotland's Circular Economy Plan. We've all drank from a can or bottle when going down the street or sitting in the park in the summer - but we need the opportunity to recycle them".

The passed motion is as follows;

“Council

Notes;

1)         That 5.5 billion plastic bottles are sent to landfill every year in the UK further exacerbating the Climate Crisis (source: parliament.uk, 2017).

2)         That the majority of litter bins in Edinburgh’s town centres and parks are refuse-only and do not offer the ability to recycle plastic bottles or cans.

3)         That Edinburgh Council worked alongside environmental charities Hubbub and Changeworks in previous years to trial on-street recycling bins, baked into double-capacity litter bins called “#InTheLoop”. This resulted in an impact report from Hubbub.

Believes;

4)         That all residents and visitors walking or wheeling in our streets and parks should have the opportunity to conveniently recycle plastic bottles and cans while acknowledging the extreme financial pressures of all departments.

5)         That communal recycling bins are intended for residential use, and thus not suitable recycling points for people walking and wheeling in town centres and parks.

6)         Having half of a double-capacity litter bin be dedicated to mixed recycling is a cost-effective way of expanding our plastic and aluminium recycling provision, as they can be internally fitted with a green wheelie bin, the same used for individual household mixed-recycling.

Calls for;

7)         A report to Transport and Environment committee within two cycles that outlines the feasibility and costs of:

a)         upgrading a substantial number of litter bins in Edinburgh's City Centre and eight town centres to double-capacity litter and recycling bins.

b)         upgrading a substantial number of litter bins in Council-owned parks and green spaces to double-capacity litter and recycling bins, both at sites where litter bins are currently present and at sites from which litter bins have been removed over the past five years. Parks should include but not be limited to premier parks such as the Meadows, Inverleith Park and Leith Links.

c)         identifying suitable sites in order to implement A) and B) where doing so would increase recycling rates while remaining cost-effective (ie sites that are nearby an existing residential mixed recycling route).

            d)         Learning from the previous “Edinburgh #InTheLoop” trial.”