Earlier this month, I featured an article about the types of plastics that are collected from the 'green box' recycling facility available to some householders in the West End and elsewhere in Dundee. However, this facility has not been extended as yet to all households and a constituent recently asked about the possibility of having plastics recycling at Pennycook Lane's recycling centre. I have received the follwoing feedback from Dundee City Council :"At present within the west side of Dundee we have plastics recycling bins at Magdalen Yard/Roseangle Car Park, Riverside Recycle Centre, Tesco South Road, and also at the Marchbanks Recycling Centre. There are also 9 green box routes on the West side of Dundee whereby residents who are on these routes are entitled to present as many boxes as they require.
Plastics take up a greater volume than any other type of recyclate, therefore, we are limited to putting plastics bins into sites that will accommodate multiple large bins. In most sites this means a minimum of 3 large plastics bins to cope with quantities of plastics to avoid fly tipping. To put in a recycling point the planning guidelines are strict, and as a result there are only a limited number of sites that will adequately meet these guidelines, along with being large enough to site multiple bins. At present we also only have funding to keep on the road 1 full-time collection vehicle and another for 2 mornings per week for plastics, and their collection schedules are at capacity at present. Pennycook Lane is a particularly unusual layout for a recycling point. This site has been in place for quite some years now, and I imagine we would probably have some difficulty getting such a site approved through Planning now. There is unfortunately no room to add the additional 2-3 plastics recycling bins that such a busy site as this would require.
We will certainly take your constituents comments on board, and as funding permits we will continue to look for opportunities to expand our recycling services."