Impressive new waste and recycling figures for Highland

21st May 2025

The Highland Council is pleased to announce new waste and recycling figures for the region, following the introduction of the new waste and recycling services over the last year.

The roll out of the new waste and recycling services to householders and businesses began in April 2024 and has been funded by the Scottish Government's Recycling Improvement Fund. In total £7.11 million has been awarded to The Highland Council from the fund to enhance waste and recycling collections for communities and businesses across the region.

The latest figures from the Council’s Waste Services Team, show a reduction of approximately 7,500 tonnes of waste collected at the kerbside and sent for disposal in the last 12 months compared to the previous period.

Councillor Graham MacKenzie, Chair of the Council’s Communities and Place Committee, said: "I am absolutely delighted with the performance of the new waste and recycling services. This is really positive news for the region and goes to show the efforts of householders and businesses using the new bins are really resulting in benefits for the environment".

As part of the improvements to recycling services, food waste collection services have been expanded to a further 25,000 households in Easter Ross, Nairn and Inverness. This has resulted in 3,740 tonnes of food waste being collected for recycling in the last 12 months - an impressive increase of 2,350 tonnes compared to the previous period.

Cllr MacKenzie continued: “Where the food waste collection service is offered, we are seeing very high household participation levels, especially when compared to the Scotland national average, further demonstrating that Highland communities are really embracing the new recycling services they have been provided.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience in some of the food waste collection areas which have experienced delays with their collections. Further funding provided to Highland Council from the Recycling Improvement Fund has been allocated to purchase an additional food waste collection vehicle to ensure householders receive their weekly scheduled collection.

“The recycling services provided by The Council are vital in helping the public to live sustainably. Businesses who use the Highland Council Business Waste Services and new twin stream recycling collections are also contributing to circular economy practices across the region. Further good news comes from the new twin stream recycling collections where we are seeing a significant drop in contamination of the material collected in the recycling bins collected from both householders and businesses, resulting in an overall increase of 1000 tonnes in the output of recyclable material after it has been processed at the recycling facilities.”

Stuart Murray from Zero Waste Scotland said: “Zero Waste Scotland is delighted to have been able to support Highland Council in what has been a significant and transformative project to increase recycling capture as well as to improve the quality of materials collected. The Highland Council is one of several councils that benefitted from the Recycling Improvement Fund, which is making a real difference to recycling services and infrastructure across Scotland. These improvements will support Scotland’s journey to a circular economy and help protect our environment for generations to come."

Other recyclable material streams which have seen an increase in the last year include clothing and textiles collected at Recycling Points across the region. A total of 1,207 tonnes were collected - an increase of 170 tonnes. Textiles and clothing have a high environmental impact and although they only account for 3% of household waste by weight, they account for nearly a third of the carbon impacts and that’s before they even become waste.

Recycling of small domestic appliances such as hair straighteners, mobile phones, toasters and kettles – items which often end up in household bins - has also increased in the last year with an additional 130 tonnes being separated for recycling at Household Waste Recycling Centres and Recycling Points.

The Council’s Waste Aware Team will soon develop a series of helpful information videos and advice on specific topics such as ‘What Happens To My Recycling?’, ‘Home Composting’, ‘Reducing Food Waste’, ‘Ultra- Fast Fashion’ and ‘Tech Recycling’, providing the public and businesses with everyday easy solutions to continue their journey towards zero waste.

Approximately 115,000 new non-recyclable waste bins have delivered in Ross and Cromarty, Nairn, Inverness-shire, Badenoch & Strathspey, Caithness, Sutherland and Skye & Lochalsh so far. A total of 25,000 food waste caddies have also been delivered in parts of Easter Ross, Nairn and Inverness to help the public recycle food waste. The final phase of the service change roll out will be in Lochaber and is expected to start with bin deliveries in September. Householders and businesses in Lochaber will start receiving information about their new services in August.

For further information on the recycling services in your area, and for please visit www.highland.gov.uk/recycle