Grey bin

This November your Recycling Service is changing.  From the 31^st of July to October 2023 a new grey-lidded recycling bin will be delivered to all properties that are currently in receipt of a blue-lidded dry mixed recycling bin collection across Perth and Kinross.  Please do not utilise these bins until notified by letter in September 2023.

This Service Change will mean splitting the current contents of the blue-lidded bins into two recycling bins; paper and cardboard will continue to be recycled in the blue-lidded bins and plastic, cans and cartons will go into the grey lidded recycling bin.

All residents in Perth and Kinross Council's (PKC) service area that are currently have a blue-lidded bin collection will move to the new service.

If you do not currently have recycling bins, you can request this service by visiting our Your kerbside bins pages. We currently provide recycling services to 97% of households within PKC however there are some properties it is not logistically viable to service.

Why is this Service Change happening?

By splitting the waste into 2 containers we look to achieve the following benefits:

• It brings PKC in line with the Charter for Household Recycling, this was designed to bring consistency to recycling services across Scotland
• Reduce contamination levels, Studies have shown that splitting the recyclates over 2 containers brings down contamination levels, this means that materials collected are more likely to be recycled, as paper and cardboard which are easily contaminated by liquids or food remnants left on cans & plastics are kept separate and clean

How are Perth and Kinross Council funding this Service Change?

Perth & Kinross Council have obtained £2.72m funding from Scottish Government via the Recycling Improvement Fund which is administered by Zero Waste Scotland, this funding will cover the capital costs of the Service Change.

When will I know my new collection dates?

New collection calendars will be made available online in October 2023. For those that do not have internet access paper copies can be requested via our Customer Service Centre from October.

What can I recycle in my grey bin?

In November when the new Recycling Service commences blue bins will accept paper and cardboard only and the new grey-lidded recycling bins will accept plastics, cans and cartons. 

The new grey-lidded bins will also accept two new materials, soft plastics and foils. 

Soft plastics and foil have never been recycled at the kerbside before in Perth and Kinross. This is great news as these materials currently make up around 9% of your general waste bin by weight and even more by volume, due to the materials being so light.

• Soft plastics include things like:
• Crisp packets
• Empty plastics bags
• Empty black bags
• Fruit nets
• Films
• Bread bags
• Sweet wrappers
• Cling film
• Bubble wrap
• Blister packs from medicine

Foil includes things like:

• Pet food pouches
• Foil
• Foil trays

Please remember despite black/plastic bags being included in the new grey bin, items will still need to be placed in loose.

More information in relation to the grey-lidded recycling bin will be added to this page over the coming months, please keep an eye on this page and our social media channels.

If you would like to discuss this upcoming change, please contact Waste Services online at MyPKC, by emailing collectionservice@pkc.gov.uk or by phoning our Customer Service Centre on 01738 476476.

FAQ's

What is the new Recycling Service change and why is it happening?

From the end of July to October 2023 residents across Perth and Kinross will be receiving a new grey lidded bin, this bin will split the contents of your current blue bin in two. The new grey bin will take plastics, cans and cartons with more materials to be announced in the near future. From November 2023 the Service Change will commence, the current blue bin will then be just for paper and card. 

By splitting the waste out over 2 containers we achieve the following benefits:

It brings PKC in line with the Charter for Household Recycling, this was designed to bring consistency to recycling services across Scotland (https://-household-recycling)

Studies have shown that splitting the recyclates over 2 containers brings down contamination levels, this not only makes it less likely PKC will receive financial penalties for material processors (the companies sorting waste for recycling) but means that materials collected are more likely to be recycled (currently the contamination level is 17% which means that 17% of the material collected in the blue bin isn't recycled)

We are able to get better quality materials for recycling as fibres which are easily contaminated by liquids or food remnants left on cans & plastics are kept separate and clean

We are hopeful that by splitting out our recyclates we will be able to accept new materials for recycling, this will boost our recycling rate by removing materials from our general waste stream and placing this into a recycling stream.

How am I meant to cope with 4 weekly collections?

At the moment we operate on a 2 weekly cycle with general waste collected on week 1 and recycling collected on week 2.  The new service will see a move to a 4 week cycle with general waste collected on week 1, paper/cardboard collected on week 2, general waste collected on week 3 and cans/plastics collected on week 4. There will be no reduction to garden food waste or general waste collections. 

I don't want to participate, can I opt out?

Unfortunately, we will be unable to continue to offer a mixed recycling service as we will not have a contract for the disposal of mixed recyclates and we will not have the front-line resources to provide uplifts.

Bins are provided to properties and as a local authority we have an obligation to provide recycling services to all properties where it is operational viable to do so as per section 46 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

For example, if you were to move from the property, we would still have the obligation to provide that service to the new resident. As such you do not have the option to opt out of the service.

Where am I meant to keep this new bin?

We appreciate that some residents may have issues with storage of new bins. Residents will be required to keep the new bins within the grounds of their property and present bins to the kerbside for collection, as they do with current bins. In exceptional circumstances a new online form will be created for residents that believe they will struggle to store the new containers. Waste Services staff will assess these on a case-by-case basis to provide solutions. Talks will be taking place between factors for flatted properties, housing associations and the councils housing department as well as with all elected members so that we are aware of potential problem areas and work towards a solution. For those that are utilising a communal bin store, either at a block of flatted properties or a rural road end collection we have carried out an assessment of your bin store. For those that do not have space currently for the new containers work commenced in March 2023 to extend storage space to ensure that there is room for bins to be stored safely.

What about glass? 

Based on the waste analysis of the green bins in PKC (general waste), around 5% of the contents of the green bins contain glass. Resident of PKC already do an great job at recycling glass at local supermarkets, recycling points and centres.

The Scottish Household Recycling Charter Code of Practice places emphasis on improving the quality of the recycling material collected, with glass being collected as a separate stream and not mixed with other recyclates as this may degrade the quality of other recycling streams.

To consider collecting glass at the kerbside would require an additional fleet of vehicles as glass cannot be collected on its own using the same fleet of recycling vehicles as glass is a very abrasive material; this is not a viable option due to the significant costs and impact to the environment to provide a kerbside service. Whilst glass kerbside collection would be popular, the relatively small amounts put into non-recyclable waste bins does not justify the additional cost of running a separate fleet of vehicles. To ensure compliance with the Charter, the Council will continue to collect colour segregated glass through the network of glass recycling points and Household Recycling Centres.