Published Date: Oct 30th, 2019
Brown compost/food waste bins will be collected every four weeks across the winter, from mid-November.
The seasonal change will start from the week beginning 18 November 2019, and two-weekly collections will resume during the week starting 9 March 2020.
Having less garden waste in brown bins over the winter means bin collection lorries are not full, and the council has the opportunity to reduce operating costs and maximise the use of resources while reducing its environmental impact.
Residents can visit Fife Council's website www.fife.gov.uk/bincalendar to check their collection days.
The brown bin is the only household waste/ recycling bin that is changing in collection frequency.
Surveys show that there is less demand for this service from Fifers over the winter months. Research shows that less than 7% of Fife residents place their brown bin out every two weeks during the winter.
Cllr Ross Vettraino, Fife Council’s Convener, Environment and Protective Services Committee, said: “Because there is very little garden waste during the winter, the council is reducing the number of compost/food waste collections over the winter period so that resources if required, can be redirected to support other waste collection services, which are sometimes stretched due to adverse weather conditions. It also means that the council’s recycling points will be serviced more often, particularly during the busy festive season.
“There isn’t a problem storing food waste over a longer period over cooler months. As always, the bin lid should be kept closed. Unlike some other local councils, Fife Council continues to offer this service over the winter months.”
Food waste bags are available across Fife – to find your closest collection point visit: https://www.fife.gov.uk/foodwaste
Vehicles that are not being utilised on compost routes will be able to assist in servicing recycling points over the particularly busy festive period.
Other ways of reducing or dealing with garden/food waste:
- Meal planning and reusing leftovers can save money as well as waste https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com Saving food saves money and helps to slow down global warming and deforestation. Reducing the amount of food that ends up in the bin also means you can say goodbye to unnecessary packaging waste.
- Consider a home compost bin as an alternative for garden/ green waste, which is the best way to treat garden waste in an environmentally friendly way.
- You can take additional garden waste, soil, or rubble to most Fife recycling centres. Please visit https://www.fife.gov.uk/recyclingsites