Renfrewshire Council

So, the Scottish Government's £70million Recycling Improvement Fund was the perfect opportunity to make positive changes to our recycling centres which will benefit not only the Council, but the wider community.

Working closely with colleagues, Jenni and fellow Recycling Officer Amber Mohammed worked on an ambitious application which would see new compactors installed on sites to increase the volume of materials accepted in skips, as well as adding new skips for cardboard, soil and plastics which aren't currently collected separately.

Three jumbo roll packers would also be procured to compact open skips on sites and the layout and signage of recycling centres will be refreshed to make it safer and easier to access sites for recycling.

Jenni said: "While the application process was extensive, the addition of this new equipment would make a huge difference to our ability to collect and recycle waste brought to our recycling centres by members of the public, so we made sure we put as much time and effort into it as was needed.

"It was important to be ambitious, but also to ensure the equipment and measures we applied for were the correct ones for our sites.

"We surveyed all our sites, got feedback from colleagues and management working on them, and made sure that we identified what would make the biggest difference to our sites for staff and residents."

Thanks to their diligent work, recycling centres in Renfrewshire are now set to see these upgrades after being awarded almost £350,000 - with work beginning later this year.

The £346,107 investment will see the recycling infrastructure expanded and a real increase in the amount and quality of recycling that the Council is able to collect.

Jenni added: "It was brilliant to find out that our application was successful for such a significant amount and I'm looking forward to working on the implementation of the new equipment.

"Recycling, at home and by the Council, is so important so this six-figure investment will make a huge difference to our ability to receive more recycling, sort it effectively, and receive a higher payment from our contractors when we dispose of it.

"Reducing our waste is a massive part of our climate change ambitions and this is another step to lower our emissions as we try to reach net zero in Renfrewshire by 2030 - and we'll continue to try and find new ways to reduce them further wherever we possibly can."

Renfrewshire declared a climate emergency in 2019 and set the ambitious target of the area becoming net zero by 2030.

The application formed part of our drive to lower emissions, improve recycling and protect the environment, with each service asked to consider climate change in every decision it makes.

For more information on how we're tackling climate change as a council, visit our website:www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/11733/Climate-Change-projects-to-make-Renfrewshire-net-zero

Published on Wednesday 24 August 2022