Recycling Rates.

Another pat on the back for Fife on the environmental front with the Kingdom achieving a recycling rate of 41.3% in the latest figures from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), well ahead of the Scottish average of 32.9% and by Carnegie's reckoning the fourth highest rate in Scotland.

Well done Fife.

Nutty.

"MONTHLY collections of grey refuse bins are to be introduced in Fife in a move branded as “complete stupidity”. The four-weekly pick-ups – which are expected to cause an uproar in whichever area is selected – will be tried out in a pilot scheme but could be rolled out across the Kingdom. It is one of three options being trialled by the council as it attempts to improve its record on dumping food waste in landfill sites to avoid huge environmental fines. It wants food stuffs to be put in the brown bins beside garden material which, in theory, should mean less going into the grey bins."

Fife Council already has one of the higest recycling rates in Scotland so this idea really does stink. A bit like your bins will if the Council presses ahead with the idea. Fifers should be inundating their Liberal and SNP Councillors now to get them to drop the idea.

Deacon BLUE.

It took Carnegie a while to get the significance of an ex-Deacon Blue drummer promoting the use of Blue bins for recycling ... get it?

"TV PRESENTER and ex Deacon Blue star Dougie Vipond is drumming up support for Fife Council’s latest drive to get more people recycling paper and cardboard. The campaign, aimed at increasing awareness of exactly what paper and cardboard materials can be recycled in blue kerbside bins, targets householders and schoolchildren. It is backed by a marketing campaign showing a range of recyclable paper and cardboard material—including telephone directories, drink cartons, magazines, cereal boxes and cards— next to a blue bin with the strap line ‘everything here can go in here.’ The initiative is part of the council’s ongoing Waste Aware Fife campaign."

39.1%

"ALL FOUR local authorities in Tayside and Fife have beaten the national average for recycling, new figures show. Between April 2007 and March this year, councils across Scotland recycled 31.7% of the 3.4 million tonnes of waste collected, an annual rise of 3.3%. The total municipal waste produced showed no change on the previous year. Environment secretary Richard Lochhead described that as a “great leap forward” although the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said more effort was needed to hit the 40% target by 2010. Fife had one of the best records—39.1% of rubbish recycled—while Perth and Kinross was on 35.9% and Angus on 34.7%. Dundee recycled 33.0%, the highest figure of the big four cities."

Fife leads the way yet again. Carnegie is just off to the recycling point.

Green With Envy.

A pat on the back for Fife. Other areas will be green with envy. Carnegie is off to the recycling point ...

"JUST A few years ago, Fife had the unenviable record of being one Scotland’s worst local authorities in terms of recycling. Indeed, in 2002, the region managed to recycle or compost just 2% of the household and commercial waste and was firmly entrenched among the country’s poorest performing councils. But that was then and this is now and yesterday the local authority was ecstatic after topping the 50% recycling figure for the first time. Figures for June reveal that 11,764 tonnes, or 50.2%, of rubbish was diverted from landfill in that month, making it the best-ever monthly performance by the council."

Getting Greener.

Carnegie reads that Fife's recycling rate has now reached 37.5% with Fife now ranked the sixth best area in Scotland for recycling, with Clackmannanshire and Moray leading the way on 42.9%.

Pat on the back for Fife Council, but then again given that its the people of Fife who are doing most of the basic sorting work these days as regards processing domestic waste how about a Council Tax refund?

Green machine.

Carnegie reads that recycling rates in Fife broke through the 40% barrier between April and September with more than 56,000 tonnes of waste recycled or composted. Amongst this were: 18.000 tonnes of garden waste, 12,000 tonnes of paper and 4,000 tonnes of glass, giving a recycling rate of 41.8% for the Kingdom.

But Carnegie would question how much more scope there is for Fifers to recycle in the areas where two weekly bin collections have been introduced without Fife Council making much more readily available facilities for recycling materials not bearing recycling logos like specialised packaging.

While they are at it they might also want to give some thought to helping those like the elderly or those suffering from poor health, who can't always get ready access to cars to transport their recycling to recycling points. Oh and how about a Council tax rebate for the poor council taxpayers who like Carnegie are probably spending scores of hours of their own time every year recycling materials that would previously have been collected and sorted by Fife Council itself?