Highland Council has launched its new waste and recycling collection service in parts of Skye and Lochalsh.
Councillor Graham MacKenzie, Chair of the Communities and Place Committee, has welcomed the changes and urges residents to check their new collection calendar.
The rollout includes updated schedules for non-recyclable waste and recycling bins, marking a significant step in the council’s waste management programme.
Plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, metal tins and cans, empty aerosols, clean aluminium trays, and food and drink cartons will now be recycled in the green bin, which will be collected every four weeks.
Plastic film, wrap, and soft plastics remain unsuitable for the green recycling bins.
Paper, card and cardboard, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes, paperbacks, shredded cards, wrapping paper, egg boxes, toilet roll tubes, cereal boxes, and food sleeves, will now go in the blue bin, also collected every four weeks.
Residents will receive a guide titled “Your Waste and Recycling Service Is Changing” along with their new grey non-recyclable waste bin.
The guide explains the new system and lists items that cannot be placed in recycling bins.
A collection calendar is included to ensure households know when to start using the grey bin and when other bins will be collected.
Deliveries of the new bins are still underway, with recent high winds causing slight delays in distribution.
All households should receive their bins by the end of this week, though deliveries are being made according to collection routes, meaning not all properties in the same area will receive them simultaneously.
Until the new grey bins arrive, households should continue using their green bins for non-recyclable waste.
Businesses will receive clearly labelled recycling bins along with guidance on how to use them.
For business waste enquiries, customers can email business.waste@highland.gov.uk
Recycling from the new collections will be processed efficiently to maximise reuse.
Paper and card from blue bins will be transported to Smurfit Westrock’s recycling facility in Glasgow before being processed at a UK paper mill for new packaging materials.
Mixed plastic and metal containers from green bins will be sent to Wyllie’s Recycling Ltd in Perth, where they will be separated and sent to UK manufacturers to create new containers, bottles, and packaging.
Since 2023, non-recyclable waste from Skye and Lochalsh has been sent to Viridor’s Energy Recovery Facility in Dunbar, East Lothian, where it is processed to generate electricity for the National Grid.
This process reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to landfill disposal, even when considering transport emissions.
More details, including a full programme of bin deliveries, can be found on the council’s website at www.highland.gov.uk/binchanges
