Changes to the trial arrangements will start from Monday 4 December along all three Terraces.
The long-awaited changes to the trial arrangements for the collection of our waste and recycling will start from Monday 4 December along all three Terraces. The Council recently agreed not to proceed with the installation of Communal Bin Hubs throughout much of the New Town including our area pending the outcome of this extended trial. This is great news after the concerted campaign that has been mounted to persuade the Council to consider other options for the World Heritage Site.
Although most aspects of waste and recycling collection will remain the same, there are a couple of changes being trialled on Regent, Royal and Carlton Terraces. The new arrangements are as follows:
Black Sacks (Non-Recyclable Waste): Every Monday evening for collection on Tuesday morning. This is no change for us but instead of using the current large gull proof black sacks for non-recyclable waste you will need to use new smaller sacks. If you believe that you will need more capacity than that available in these smaller sacks, you will need to request additional sacks from the Council. See below, for more details about how to do so.
Food Waste: Every Monday evening for collection on Tuesday morning. The collection day for food waste is not changing but the Council are very keen to increase the number of households that are separating their food waste so that it is not put into the black sacks. At present, the Council estimates that about 30% of the waste going to incineration is food waste that could be recycled. The Council has a dedicated facility to process food waste which produces fertilizer and bioenergy with significant financial and environmental benefits compared to incineration. The following is a link to a Council video showing what happens to our food waste. We have agreed to work with the Council to try to increase participation rates. If you need a new food waste caddy (either the smaller one for the kitchen or the larger one for the street) these are available on request from the Council or RRCTMA.
Green Sacks (Mixed Recycling): Every Wednesday evening for collection on Thursday morning. As well as having your recycling picked up every week, the collection day is changing to Thursday rather than Friday. Additional clear plastic bags for use with the green sacks are available on request from RRCTMA.
Blue Boxes (Glass Recycling): Every other Thursday evening for collection on Friday morning. This is no change from the current arrangements and the Council does not plan to make any changes for this waste stream until the position on the Deposit Return Scheme is known.
Members of the RRCTMA Committee will be delivering leaflets with more information about the trial and food waste recycling as well as the new smaller black sacks over the next week or so. If you would like to collect these yourself, however, you can do so from 2a Carlton Terrace between 2.00pm and 4.00pm on Tuesday 28 November and Thursday 30 November or by arrangement at other times.
There are currently no planned changes to waste collection for other streets within our area including the Mews.
Requests for additional black or green sacks, food waste caddies and blue boxes should be made to the Council using their website request facility or email to waste@edinburgh.gov.uk
Additional information is available at www.rrctma.com. Should you have any questions please speak to the RRCTMA committee member who will be dropping off your new black sack or send us an email.
Regards
Mike Birch