Highland Council's Waste Services team supports food bank donation

28th May 2025

Last week, representatives from The Highland Council's Waste Services Team joined The Highland Food Bank Team in Inverness for the delivery of £500 worth of food and essential items which was kindly donated by Jett Distribution.

Jett Distribution have been contracted by the Council to deliver wheeled bins as part of the Waste and Recycling Service Change programme and are wheeled bin distribution specialists within the UK and Germany. Since April 2024, they have delivered approximately 115,000 new grey wheeled bins and 25,000 food waste caddies to households across the Highland region as part of the Waste Service Change roll out which has been funded by the Scottish Government's Recycling Improvement Fund.

Councillor Graham MacKenzie, Chair of the Communities and Place Committee, said, "I would like to thank Jett Distribution for the generous donation of much needed food and essential items to the Highland Foodbank. This is a superb example of where a contract awarded by The Highland Council has not only been delivered on time and within budget but has also provided additional community benefit for the region."

Jamie Humphries, Director of Jett Distribution, said: "As we near the end of a very successful roll-out of new bins for The Highland Council, we are proud to have donated £500 of food and essentials to the Trussell Trust foodbank in Inverness, as a way to say thank you to the communities across Highland. The Trussell Trust is a charity which is close to our hearts, and this is our way of supporting foodbanks which help local people in times of need."

Neill Prentice, Fundraising Manager (North Scotland) for Blythswood who manage the Highland Foodbanks, said: "We are so grateful to Jett Distribution for their generous donation of £500 worth of food to local families facing hardship. Last year, Highland Foodbank provided emergency food to over 5,000 people - and support like this is what makes this possible. Your kindness helps us feed families in crisis and on their behalf, we say thank you."

The final phase of the roll out of the service change will see the new waste and recycling services being delivered in Lochaber from September 2025.

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

The funding from the Scottish Government's Recycling Improvement Fund includes the provision of all the new non-recyclable waste bins to householders, new recycling bins for Highland Council Business Waste customers, along with facilitating the expansion of the food waste collection service to another 30,000 households in the region, further enhancing the recycling services provided by the Council. Modifications to the Portree and Caithness Waste Transfer Stations to help support the changes to the recycling services is also included in the funding award from the Scottish Government.

The Council also approved capital investment in waste infrastructure with the construction of a new Waste Transfer Station in Fort William, along with a communications and engagement package to support residents with the changes to the recycling services.

The new waste and recycling services introduced include the following changes - green (or grey) bins are used to recycle mixed plastics, metals and food and drink cartons. Blue bins are used to recycle paper, card and cardboard only. Each of the recycling bins are collected every 4 weeks.

Households in receipt of the weekly food waste recycling service have been provided with a new 140 litre grey non-recyclable waste bin while all other households have been provided with a new 180 litre grey non-recyclable waste bin. All non-recyclable waste bin collections remain on a fortnightly basis.

PHOTO
Neill Prentice (Blythswood)
Luke Matheson (Foodbank Co-ordinator)
Alison Boyle (Highland Council)
Ellie Humphries (Jett Distribution)
Jill Biss (Jett Distribution)
Imogen Percy-Bell (Highland Council)