Move to fortnightly bin collections approved

Two votes were taken at last night’s Environment Committee before the SNP administration eventually got its way and approval was given to make the change to the council’s domestic recycling service, including a move to fortnightly residual waste collections across much of Dundee as outlined in an earlier post.

 I supported a Labour Group amendment that called for full consultation to be undertaken with communities, residents and elected members on the implications of new regulations for the collection of recylcates and residual waste in the city. Speaking in the debate I acknowledged that significant public engagement and education would be carried out prior to the roll out of each phase of the new waste collection regime but what was missing was consultation on the adoption of the actual policy. All the opposition councillors voted for the amendment but it was defeated by the SNP majority.

At the start of the debate I had submitted an amendment that called on the committee to instruct the director of the environment department to prepare a further report with alternative options to improve and expand domestic recycling services within the city but retain a weekly residual waste collection. Most of the people who have contacted me about this matter want to be able to recycle more, particularly food waste, but they are concerned about the implications of grey wheelie bins not being emptied every week.  I didn’t think it was unreasonable to explore this option. Cllr. Fraser MacPherson submitted a very similar amendment so I withdrew my amendment, seconding Cllr. MacPherson’s instead. Again, this amendment was defeated by the SNP majority.