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8 Glasgow City Council

8.1 Details of pilot scheme

8.1.1 Pilot scheme area

The pilot scheme area was split between tenements in the east and west end of the city (Tollcross/Partick). The pilot scheme was also carried out in conjunction with a 'Sustainable Backcourt Initiative ( SBI)' which would improve the bin stores and access to 50 tenement buildings. The properties under the SBI were situated within or close to the pilot areas in the Shettleston, Tollcross and Partick areas of the city.

The pilot scheme area has quite a diverse ACORN breakdown. The majority of households are either Types 15,16,17 or 19 (urban professionals) or Type 54 (singles and single parents). The predominant household type is traditional sandstone tenements. In the majority of these tenements, access to the backcourt by vehicles is restricted.

8.1.2 Existing waste and recyclables collection

Existing waste collection infrastructure can be summarised as follows.

Prior to implementation of the pilot scheme, recycling provision was via local recycling points. A total of 46% of respondents to the SWAG pre-pilot survey said they currently used recycling points. Most of these points were within, or close to, the pilot area.

8.1.3 Pilot scheme

The main objective of the scheme was to pilot the provision of backcourt recyclate collection for tenement properties. Each tenement was provided with two lockable 240 litre blue wheelie bins for Paper, Steel and Aluminium Cans, and Plastic Bottles. This collection system was selected after the trial of a number of different systems.

The residual waste collection system remained unchanged.

The pilot scheme will run in tandem with the SBI. This aims of this initiative were to:

• Support the waste collection service by improving access for vehicles and providing storage areas for bins; and
• Appointment of an SBI community recycling officer; and
• Produce promotional material and organise community events to raise awareness of recycling.

The SBI scheme was assessed separately by waste analysis and the SWAG surveys. However, it was not possible for Glasgow City Council to collate data on the amount of recyclate collected.

The pilot scheme infrastructure can be summarised as follows:

Access to many of the backcourts is only available via the ground floor from the street in front of the building. A bin exchange system is utilised to empty bins. Operatives enter the property with two empty bins, exchange them with two full bins and return them to the vehicle on street to empty. The two empty bins are then taken to the next tenement and so on.

8.2 Pilot scheme evaluation

8.2.1 Tonnage of material recovered

The pilot scheme commenced operation on 22nd August 2005. For the period up to the week beginning 23rd January, data received from Glasgow City Council showed a total of 299.5 tonnes of recyclate material was collected. This is equivalent to a diversion rate of 1.91 kg/hh/week of recyclate.

A full data set is provided in Annex 7.

Results from waste analysis are discussed separately in Section 11.

8.2.2 Results of SWAG Public Opinion Surveys - Pilot Scheme

A total of 386 people responded to both the pre-pilot and mid-pilot surveys.

Figure 8-1 and Figure 8-2 summarise the key results for the SWAG public opinion surveys. Before the pilot, 97% of respondents stated they had no household recycling scheme. With the pilot in place, 84% reported they knew about it and used it, 11% knew about it but did not use it, and 5% reported they did not have, or did not know about, the pilot recycling scheme.

Figure 8-1 Use of household recycling scheme: pre- and mid-pilot.

Figure 8-2: Use of recycling points: pre- and mid-pilot

The reported use of recycling points reduced from 46% to 36%. The reported use of recycling centres reduced from 19 to 10%. Table 8-1 shows the most common materials recycled at recycling point pre- and mid-pilot. The use of recycling points decreased for newspapers, plastic bottles and cans, all of which are collected by the pilot scheme.

Table 8-1 common materials recycled at recycling points pre- and mid-pilot

Table 8-2 shows the most common reasons cited for not using the pilot scheme service.

Table 8-2 Most common reasons for not using the pilot scheme service

¹ Percentage of those respondents who stated they had multi-occupancy recycling service but did not use it.

Amongst those who used the service, 93% were satisfied with the service. The most common suggestions for improvement were: no suggestions for improvement (39%), collect more material (35%), collect more often (8%), alternative container type (6%) and alternative container design (4%). Figure 8-6 shows the main materials recycled using the pilot scheme.

8.3 Results of SWAG public opinion surveys - SBI

In Glasgow, in the Sustainable Backyard Initiative pilot, 121 people responded to pre-pilot survey, and 149 to the mid-pilot. Figure 8-3 & Figure 8-4 summarise the key results for the SWAG public opinion surveys. Before the pilot, 90% of respondents stated they had no household recycling scheme. With the pilot in place, 80% reported they knew about it and used it, 11% knew about it but did not use it, and 9% reported they did not have, or did not know about, the pilot recycling scheme.

Figure 8-3 Use of household recycling scheme: pre- and mid-pilot ( SBI)

Figure 8-4: Use of recycling points: pre- and mid-pilot ( SBI)

The reported use of recycling points increased slightly from 22 to 26%. The reported use of recycling centres decreased slightly from 4% to 1%. Table 8-3 shows the most common materials recycled at recycling points pre- and mid-pilot. The use of recycling points for newspapers, plastic bottles and cans decreased, all of which are collected by the pilot scheme.

Table 8-3 Most common materials recycled at recycling points pre- and mid-pilot ( SBI)

Table 8-4 shows the most common reasons cited for not using the pilot scheme service.

Table 8-4 Most common reasons for not using the pilot scheme service ( SBI)

¹ Percentage of those respondents who stated they had multi-occupancy recycling service but did not use it.

Amongst those who used the service, 94% were satisfied with the service. The most common suggestions for improvement were: no suggestions for improvement (45%), collect more materials (28%), and different container type (10%).

Figure 8-5 shows the main materials recycled using the pilot scheme.

Figure 8-5 Materials recycled ( SWAG survey results): Glasgow City SBI

Figure 8-6 Materials recycled ( SWAG survey results): Glasgow City

8.3.1 Operational feedback

The following points were highlighted by Glasgow City Council operational and waste management staff.

• The scheme design was considered the most effective method for this property type and the system is considered appropriate by the Council staff.
• It is considered that the capacity of both residual and recyclate bins were appropriate for the properties. Capacity issues are a rare occurrence. If additional recyclate is left in alternative containers (e.g. plastic bags) it can be collected by the operatives.
• The ability to increase the number of recyclate bins would be constrained by the bin exchange system and the availability of space in backcourts. Increasing the size of bin is also not an alternative as the weight of the full bins leads to manual handling issues when pulling bins up stairs or over unmade ground. Where vehicular access to backcourts is allowed, additional bins could be added if required.
• The addition of recyclate bins to the refuse collection scheme is considered to have improved the overall capacity and service of the scheme. There has been no change to the residual collection service as a result of the implementation of the scheme.
• The bin exchange system is inherently fairly limited in its operational flexibility in terms of capacity and frequency. Increasing the number of bins to all properties is not considered appropriate as it would result in excess capacity and restricted backcourts.
• Glasgow City Council undertook a trial of weekly instead of fortnightly collections for a selection of the pilot scheme householders. This was carried out over a period of four weeks. According to the council, during this time no significant change in tonnage of material collected was observed.
• On rollout of the pilot scheme, consideration would need to be given to collecting residual and recyclate on the same day of the week to limit any inconvenience to householders.
• The introduction of recyclate bins has resulted in increased spare capacity for the residual bins. It is considered that there has been a reduction in the number of bulky uplifts as a result.

8.3.2 Summary of pilot scheme performance

* Percentage of those using the scheme. Based on public opinion surveys, see also results from detailed waste analysis (Section 11)

8.4 Cost effectiveness analysis

Glasgow City Council based their costs of rolling out the scheme on the operational parameters shown overleaf.

Based on the methodology detailed in Section 3.5 the diversion rate for pilot scheme rollout is estimated to be 99 kg/hh/yr. Therefore, the total amount of material recovered would be 10,770 tonnes/annum. Rollout costs have been agreed with Glasgow City Council and are shown in Table 8-5. . Full details of costs can be found in Annex 8 - Pilot Scheme Cost Data - and Annex 9 - Rollout Cost Data.

Table 8-5 Pilot scheme rollout costs - Glasgow City Council

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