Half of Dumbarton and the Vale's waste ended up in landfill
Published 15 Aug 2012 11:30
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RESIDENTS in Dumbarton and the Vale are being urged go green in effort to boost recycling figures.
It follows figures released this week showing than more than 50 per cent of waste in the area was sent to landfill sites.
Figures published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) from July to September 2011 have revealed that 10,596 tonnes of household waste was produced in West Dunbartonshire, but only 5,122 tonnes was recycled.
That means that only 48.3 per cent of household waste was recycled while more than half (51.7 per cent) of rubbish created was sent to landfill sites.
However, council chiefs say this will be boosted with the rolling out of West Dunbartonshire Council's food waste bins for people living in flats.
The Waste Prevention Programme on the council website outlines the guidelines to help boost this into action.
West Dunbartonshire Council currently encourages residents to follow the 10 point plan to help slash the amount of waste generated across Dumbarton and the Vale and neighbouring Clydebank.
Householders are urged to reduce the amount of packaging they buy or use, reduce junk mail, compost at home, use real nappies instead of plastic, get involved with second-hand and hire schemes, buy rechargeable or reusable products, reduce food waste and reduce the amount of general waste by reusing bottles and glass jars. And the Zero Waste policy aims to reduce the amount of waste created and ensure that all rubbish is sorted into separate recycling bins for 'high quality processing'.
A spokesman for the council said: "These results are further positive evidence that residents of West Dunbartonshire are making really good progress with their recycling.
"We dramatically exceeded the target set for us by the Scottish Government by diverting an extra 4,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill, that's the equivalent of 360 full bin lorries.
"The residents of West Dunbartonshire have now helped the council meet the target set for it every year since the scheme was introduced in 2006.
"We want to keep up this positive progress and will be targeting food waste in the coming year with a trial of weekly food waste collection for flats and tenements to complement the existing service for low-level housing."
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