Major changes adding a fifth bin to some Highland households are due to begin next month.
Highland Council is making improvements to modernise recycling on the back of a £6.5m investment from the Scottish Government.
People in Ross and Cromarty and Dornoch will be the first to move over to the new system in April.
Letters will be sent out to homes in those areas at some point over the next six weeks, outlining how things will be changing.
What is changing?
Your general waste bin is about to get a lot smaller and there will be two types of recycling bins.
At the moment, most Highland households have two bins: a green one for waste and a blue one for recycling.
Some also pay for a brown bin for garden waste.
And across 37,000 households in the Inverness area, there is also a smaller food waste collection bin.
But under the new system, the council wants people to spread recycling across two bins.
The local authority also wants people to throw less waste to landfill.
To do this, it is changing what will go in each bin.
And a new grey bin will be added into the mix.
Councillor Graham Mackenzie said: “The council has made a commitment to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste sent for disposal and increase the amount recycled.
“These changes will help make it easier for the public to recycle more, helping them to reduce their impact on the environment.”
How will the new Highland bin collection system work?
Green bin – mixed containers
Your current green bin will be repurposed for recycling.
It will be for “mixed containers” – which means plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, as well as cans, tins, foil and cartons.
These bins may be grey in some areas.
Blue bin – paper and card
Paper and card will now be recycled separately from containers.
This makes it easier for the council to sort our recycling. The blue bin you currently use for all recycling should now only be used for paper and card. Any other recyclables go in the green bin.
Instead of the current fortnightly recycling collection, the blue and green bins will be collected every four weeks.
New grey bin – general waste
Every household will receive an additional bin for general waste – but it’ll be smaller.
Instead of the standard wheelie bin size – 240 litres – this one will be 140 litres if you’ve already got a food waste collection bin or 180 litres if you don’t.
The hope is that providing more room for recycling will encourage people to throw away less waste to landfill.
Brown bin – for garden waste
No changes for the brown bin service.
The latest cost of a permit – that runs until August 2024 – is £47.75.
When will the bin collection changes happen in my area?
Homes in Ross and Cromarty – and Dornoch – will be the first to use the new bins.
After that, the changes will come into force in Nairn in May.
Inverness will follow across May and June.
In August, Badenoch and Strathspey will be next, followed by Caithness in September and Sutherland in October/November.
Skye and Lochalsh will see the changes in February 2025 and Lochaber will be the last to move across in April/May 2025.
Around 15,000 properties in Ross and Cromarty will be added to the food waste collection service next month too.
The food waste bins will be delivered alongside the new recycling bins.
Conversation