Councillor Praises Highland Residents For Recycling Figures
7th October 2014
The Highland Council recycling rate has reached 45% pushing it up to number 11 in the rankings of the 32 Scottish Local Authorities according to new figures released by SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) for 2013.
Councillor Graham MacKenzie, Chair of the Council's Community Services Committee, said: "These latest figures are great news and testament to the commitment of Highland residents to recycling. Please keep up the good work as the Scottish Government's Zero Waste Plan sets a target of 70% of all waste to be recycled by 2025."
He added: "The Highland Council is looking to increase the range materials collected in the blue recycling bins. This will hopefully happen sometime next year which will be welcomed by householders and help push our recycling rate higher still."
Recycling of paper, cardboard, tins, cans and plastic bottles have all seen a steady rise since the Alternate Weekly Collections began to be rolled out in 2010 with approximately 16,000 tonnes being recycled last year.
Glass recycling is also at an all-time high in Highland with around 65% of all glass bottles and jars being recycled by residents which is really good news. The glass bottles & jars are transported to the central belt where they are reprocessed into glass fibre insulation or new glass bottles and jars.
Food waste collections introduced in Inverness earlier in the year also have helped to boost the Highland Council recycling figures. Presently about half Inverness residents are using the service and The Council‘s Waste Awareness Team are encouraging more households to use the service by promoting the benefits - it is clean and easy to use and it is a weekly service that removes much of the smelly element from the fortnightly refuse bin.
Alternatively, composting fruit and veg peelings with garden waste at home is great for the environment and avoids this material being landfilled where it will produce harmful gases contributing to Climate Change.
For further information about recycling in the Highlands go to the Rubbish and recycling section of The Highland Council’s website: www.highland.gov.uk , email recycle[AT]highland.gov.uk or call 01349 886603. Downloadable refuse and recycling collection calendars are also available on the website.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028. The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply.
Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. Convener of the Council, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council.
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.