From next week, Shetland Islands Council will collect pots, tubs and trays as part of the normal plastic recycling collections from households across Shetland.
The current kerbside recycling collections across the isles include plastic bottles, as well as drinks cartons and metal tins, in the grey-lidded wheelie bins. From Monday 18th August, plastic pots, tubs and trays can also be added to grey-lidded bin for collection, which will be shipped south for processing.
There are no plans to change any collection schedules or arrangements – householders can simply add these items to their grey-lidded bin for collection.
Collecting this extra packaging will increase rates of plastic recycling in Shetland, and help the Council to meet the targets of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in Scotland.
The Council will also soon roll out more ‘bring points’ for collection of glass and batteries across the isles. Wheelie bins in more locations will replace the current ‘bee hive’ glass collection bins, with the hope that this will increase glass recycling rates locally. More shops across Shetland will also have bring points for batteries, to collect and store battery waste safely.
Bright pink bins will also be introduced across Shetland as bring points for waste electronic equipment. These bins have been rolled out in other areas around Scotland, offering householders a bit more flexibility when disposing of end-of-life electronic equipment that no longer works. Any electronic items in good order can still be taken to re-use facilities such as Scrap Stores.
Brydon Gray, Team Leader – Waste Services, said “There’s been a marked increase in recycling in Shetland in recent years, since the introduction of kerbside collections in 2018. We’re keen to keep extending the scope of what we collect, so that we can all increase the quantity of material that we recycle as a community, rather than put items to incineration or landfill."
For more details on what can and can’t be recycled, please look up - www.shetland.gov.uk/recycling-rubbish/goes-bin
Notes for Editors
- For more detail on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Scotland, please look up - https://www.gov.scot/publications/extended-producer-responsibility-packaging-fairer-scotland-duty-assessment/pages/2/