| Big Success in Scotland’s ‘Wee County’ The roll out of Clackmannanshire's kerbside recycling scheme including bottles was completed in 2005. The role of effective communication strategies have been reflected in high tonnage rates and the increasing demand from householders to recycle more has prompted consideration of alternate weekly collections.
Details Known as 'The Wee County', Clackmannanshire is situated just across the Firth of Forth, with a population of 48,077 and 23,450 households. With an area of only 159 square kilometres Clackmannanshire is Scotlands smallest County. The Council operates a comprehensive kerbside collection system, covering 90% of households. Plastic bottle collection was phased in during 2004 following high public demand and frequent requests for the service. Residual and green waste are collected on alternate weeks using wheeled bins, and dry recyclables are collected weekly using 55 litre blue boxes. Included in the dry recyclables collection are cans, glass, paper, plastic bottles and textiles. At present only clear / PET and natural HDPE are being collected. Card is collected with garden / green waste. The dry recyclables are sorted at the kerbside using 7.5 tonne stillage vehicles, which have separate compartments for each material. 20% of vehicle capacity is allocated to plastic bottles, which are kept in a netted area at the rear. Each month an average of 24 tonnes of plastic bottles are collected for recycling, which equates to 288 tonnes per year. Each household in Clackmannanshire therefore recycles 12.3 kg of plastic bottles a year – three times the UK average amount of 5.5 kg, and the highest reported rate in Scotland. The plastic bottles are collected by Alloa Community Enterprises (ACE) and taken to a transfer station where they are stored and transported in bulker lorries to Oran Waste in Grangemouth for baling. The scheme has been a great success. Promotion of the kerbside scheme through radio adverts as well as flyers delivered to households and newspaper articles to reinforce clear and simple messages and instructions has helped raise awareness. Surveys show that recall of messages was greatest for local press and radio adverts. When it was being rolled-out last year, Graeme Cunningham, Integrated Waste Manager said: "I would thank the members of the public who are recycling so enthusiastically, we've given householders exactly what they wanted, plastic recycling right on their doorstep. With some terrific support from the refuse collection staff the whole operation has gone really smoothly." The Council have expressed an interest in adding recyclables collections to the alternate weekly scheme. This will allow the adoption of 240 litre bins which will be better able to cope with the increasing volumes of plastic that householders are presenting for recycling. The new scheme will enable householders to recycle all plastic bottles including the coloured / jazz bottles not currently collected. The Scottish Waste Awareness Group (SWAG) recently carried out 400 face-to-face interviews with Clackmannanshire residents to assess public attitudes and behaviour towards the Council's kerbside recycling service. The results showed that 97% of those questioned are using the kerbside recycling service and that there is a high level of satisfaction and confidence among users of the service. Further information www.clacksweb.org.uk |
