Local Councillor Helps To Clear Up Kerbside Recycling Confusion

Dumfries & Galloway (for Ward 3) Councillor Pauline Drysdale is a member of D&G Council the waste management committee, Pauline has issued a statement to help clear up some of the confusion after the roll out of the brand new bins and Kerbside Recycling across many parts of the region in recent weeks.

Mrs Drysdale Said “As a Councillor I am concerned with global warming and as a member of the waste management committee I have had communication from constituents regarding the recent roll out of the new system recycling service implemented across the Stewartry over the last few weeks.

The D&G Waste Management team have undertaken a huge roll out programme with 24,636 bins delivered across the region, 1,132 sacks, 102 communal bins and over 800 enquiries on the new system. Whilst both positive and negative feedback has been received I cannot personally praise the D&G Council teams enough for their prompt action with regards to any complaints and queries.

The team have been courteous and helpful throughout what is a huge, but much needed change. We must recycle to conserve natural resources, protect wildlife and ecosystems, reduce demand for raw materials, save energy, cut carbon emissions, reduce waste collection & disposal costs whilst creating jobs. 

Constituents have been in touch due to confusion as to what goes in which bin and its hugely important that you invest the time, access the D&G Council web site and consult the flyers in order to get this right! Please continue to wash out all cans, cartons, plastic bottles and containers before putting them in the correct recycling bin (squash down bottles and keep the plastic lids on). Additionally do please carefully read the lables as most responsible manufacturers will mark the products accordingly with the recyclable sign which is a circular arrow. If the receptacle cannot be recycled there will be a clear score through this sign. In many cases it is only part of the product which can be recycled and the rest ought to go into the general waste bin with items such as wet paper, soiled fast food boxes, cling film, tin foil, waste food, egg boxes (apart from the recyclable ones), crisp packets (these can go to Terracycle however) etc. I personally have started using a compost bin and have discovered that there is a need to wash and crush egg shells and remove the tea leaves from the bag itself! 

Should you have any recycling issues in the Stewarty do get in touch with myself or the council on 030 33 33 3000 but bear in mind that going forward we must all take responsibility, to a large extent, for the produce we buy and the waste that we produce. However, there is also a job to do to try to encourage manufacturers and larger retailers to reduce packaging and hence lower the amount of waste produced.”