| Dundee is one of six local authorities with a high proportion of its citizens living in flats to benefit from the £47million pay-out from the Scottish Executive’s Strategic Waste Fund.
The money will be used to provide on-street recycling containers for 7200 properties across the city.
The fine details of the scheme are being worked out and a report on how the project will operate is expected to go to committee in the near future, said Dundee City Council’s environmental service and sustainability convener Julie Sturrock.
Welcoming the new funding, she said, “Dundee City Council enjoys tremendous support from the public for its recycling efforts and this is another way we could help more people to be involved.
“We are proud of our recycling record and this shows how we will build on our many pioneering initiatives across the city.”
However, Dundee-based Green MSP Shiona Baird said the move did not go far enough and described the Executive’s recycling targets as “far too unambitious”.
“This cash is to be welcomed,” she said. “However, given the size of Dundee and considering it seems that this cash is for the next 13 years, I’m not convinced this is enough.”
She added that Dundee had done well in working towards the Executive’s recycling targets. But she maintained, “much more effort needs to go into reducing the amount of waste produced in the first place”.
Announcing the new funding today, Environment Minister Ross Finnie said, “The number of people regularly recycling is on the rise and I want to say thank you for that.
“However, recent research shows that people living in flats and high rises are not participating as much as we would like.
“That’s because services for many flats are local recycling centres or kerbside collection points some distance away.
“Successful pilots across the country have shown that we can provide convenient, cost-effective recycling facilities for people living in flats.
“This now means that another half a million Scots really can reduce, reuse and recycle.” |
