£25 charge introduced for missed bin collections in South Ayrshire
Residents will be charged for off-schedule collections, or if bins can't be collected due to 'contamination' such as general waste in with recycling
Residents will be faced with a £25 charge if they forget to put their bins out on time and ask the council to collect it off schedule.
South Ayrshire Council have also said that there will be a £25 charge should they be asked to come and collect a bin that hasn’t been emptied because of ‘contamination,’ such as general waste in a recycling bin.
Legal issues around fines elsewhere in the UK
Other UK councils have faced the question of legal issues around such fines, such as formal appeals, given that it is relatively simple for someone to throw the wrong waste into a bin that doesn’t belong to them.
South Ayrshire chiefs say they make extra runs to collect an average of 217 non-presented or contaminated bins – an additional 11,217 journeys over the course of the year.
A council statement said: “During the 2020 festive period alone there were around 500 cases of non-serviced bins for these reasons.
“To help overcome this, we will soon introduce a fee for requests for us to return to collect bins which residents forgot to put out or which were contaminated.
“This means that if you don’t put your wheeled bin out at the right time, or if your bin contains the wrong materials, you’ll be charged £25 if you ask us to come to collect it before your next scheduled collection day.
Bin collection reminders can be set up through app
“To make sure you remember to put your bins out on time, you can access your bin calendar via our website, or by downloading our bins and recycling app, SAC MyBins.”
South Ayrshire Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Ian Cochrane, said: “Our Waste Management team collect waste and recycling the length and breadth of South Ayrshire, from Barassie, Troon, to Finnart’s Bay, Ballantrae – an impressive 476 square miles.
“They regularly respond to high volumes of reports for non-presented and contaminated bins, resulting in additional journeys and pressure on staff.
“We want to ensure residents receive the best possible service, reduce our carbon footprint and meet our recycling targets of 70 per cent by 2025.
"It's vital we all play our part in helping tackle the climate crisis"
“The new £25 charge to return to collect wheeled bins will ultimately help us to achieve this.
“It’s vital that we all play our part in helping to tackle the climate crisis and disposing of our domestic waste correctly is a really simple way to get involved.
“We’re therefore asking residents to do their bit and make that extra effort to ensure bins contain only the correct materials and are presented at the right time.”