Plastic film set for green bins in Fife households – and this is when it’ll happen

The local authority has been awarded £470,000 from the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund for enhanced sorting facilities which will allow Fifers to put plastic film - which currently should go in landfill bins - into their green plastic bins.

Fife Council was awarded the money for the project, which will be delivered by the council’s arm’s length external organisation, Cireco, and advocates say fully processing the material in the Kingdom will ensure local jobs are created and supported for local people.

Councillor Ross Vettraino, who is convener of environment and protective services, said: “The council is very pleased to have been awarded this funding, which will ensure that Fife residents will have more opportunity than ever to recycle their waste.

“Fife will be the first council in Scotland with the ability to accept flexible plastics (plastic film) at the kerbside for recycling.

"Currently, plastic film is a contaminant, as it cannot be recycled, and must be removed and sent to landfill thereby incurring additional cost by way of separation, haulage, disposal and landfill tax.

“From March next year, however, plastic film can be deposited in the green bins and will be collected at the kerbside and reprocessed at the Council’s recycling facility in Dunfermline.

“Not only will this be a financial saving and a huge boost to recycling in Fife, it will be another positive step towards a circular economy.”

The £470,000 will fund a ‘Tomra Optical Sorter’ that will segregate flexible plastics (plastic film) from plastics and cans collection.

And, from next March, the flexible plastics will be diverted from landfill and will go to local markets for recycling into new products.

This means a far higher percentage of collected cans and plastics will be recycled.

Plastic film is currently a contaminant waste that makes up about 20% of the current recycling waste collected.

The main saving from the scheme is a reduction in the costs of landfill tax, a cost avoidance of over £100,000 each year.

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