Edinburgh Uses Highstreet Vouchers As Recycling Incentives
7 September 2011
Anyone recycling in Edinburgh from this week could receive a £10 shopping voucher under a new scheme by the city's council to encourage and reward its eco-friendly residents
The visits by the Council to random streets across the city is the first phase of a new incentive scheme to help the capital meet tough waste targets.
The first two weeks of the campaign will focus on paper and packaging. Anyone taking their rubbish to a recycling point across the city could be met by Council staff and rewarded with a £10 voucher which can be spent in high street stores. There are two vouchers to be won each weekday until 16 September.
Later weeks will provide incentives for all other types of recycling, including kerbside collections and garden waste. The project aims to promote a positive attitude to recycling and reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfill, as the Council bids to meet its aim of recycling 50% of domestic waste by 2015.
Environment Leader Councillor Robert Aldridge said: "It doesn't matter who you are or where you are in Edinburgh, there is a recycling service for everyone. We've had great success in increasing local recycling over recent years but maintaining that gets harder all the time. That's why it's essential that we consider innovative ways to encourage all residents and this is the first time we've trialled an incentive scheme covering all materials across the whole city.
"Every tonne of waste that goes to landfill costs the Council £100 while recycling costs a small fraction of that. A clean and green Edinburgh benefits everyone living in or visiting the capital, so this is also our chance to say thanks to those people who are playing their part."
The Council's website provides more information on where people can recycle and details of the incentive scheme.
Businesses Offered New Recycling Service
With a continued focus on recycling, businesses in the west of Edinburgh are set to benefit from a new recycling service launched this month for commercial waste.
The City of Edinburgh Council's Trade Waste team will offer a personalised waste and recycling service in an effort to reduce the amount of waste that the Capital sends to landfill each year.
The service will offer paper and packaging recycling along with confidential waste disposal at a competitive price.
In a recent survey, 62 percent of customers did not recycle their waste; the questionnaire also revealed that many businesses would recycle more of their waste if the Council could provide the service to them.
The Scottish Government's Zero Waste Strategy includes plans to require businesses to make arrangements for waste to be recycled as well as banning many materials from being sent to landfill.
To help businesses address this issue, the Council will offer trade waste customers a range of recycling options, which are cost effective, simple and convenient.
Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "The introduction of this service will make it easier for businesses to recycle their trade waste. There are still a considerable number of traders who do not recycle their waste, but with tougher Government rules in the pipeline, this is something that all businesses will have to look at in the future."
Businesses can also now opt in for the self-service option and take their trade waste to one of the Council's Community Recycling Centres now in Seafield and soon to be in Sighthill too.
Darrel Moore
