South Ayrshire Council News

South Ayrshire has recorded its highest ever annual recycling rate, 41.2% for
July 2006 to June 2007.

The latest figures published by SEPA, who record the recycling figures for all Scottish local authorities, show that the residents of South Ayrshire are in the premier league when it comes to recycling.

The Council was kept from the top spot of the recycling league by Clackmannanshire Council, who had a slighter higher recycling rate of 42.8%.

Councillor Peter Convery, the Council’s Portfolio Carrier for Sustainability and Environmental issues said: “To achieve an overall annual recycling rate of 41.2% is remarkable, it is our best ever annual percentage. Since the Council introduced the kerbside recycling scheme it has done everything possible to make the new system run smoothly.

“The real stars are the householders of South Ayrshire who, have worked so hard recycling their waste. The co-operation, enthusiasm and eager way in which householders have really committed to recycling has made this outstanding achievement possible.”

“I would like to thank the householders of South Ayrshire and congratulate them for their commitment to the kerbside recycling scheme. It is vital however, that we all continue to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ our waste so that together we can achieve even greater recycling rates in the future.”

The Council has a number of recycling centres in South Ayrshire including ones at Prestwick, Maybole and Girvan. The new recycling centres in Troon and at Heathfield in Ayr have assisted in boosting the Council’s recycling performance. Bulky uplifts of waste and general waste going through these recycling centres are segregated and screened at Heathfield to extract as much recyclable and compostable material as possible. Now only the minimum amount of waste is being disposed of at a landfill site. More business and school waste is now being disposed of and this will also increase the recycling rate.

The Council will continue to work with the residents of South Ayrshire to further improve the recycling rate. Householders can help to do this by:

• Reducing, Reusing and Recycling as much waste as possible.
• Separating household waste correctly.
• Placing glass waste out for collection regularly to maintain a consistent flow of glass for recycling.
• Composting garden waste at home if possible and if not placing it in a brown bin where it will be taken away and turned into compost.