Scottish councils to be given power to fine households for using wrong bin for recycling

Plans put forward by Scottish ministers will introduce a system of penalty charges and fixed penalty notices

Councils in Scotland will be handed the power to fine households for using the wrong bin for recycling under new legislation.

Plans put forward by Scottish ministers will introduce a system of penalty charges and fixed penalty notices, with the option of criminal enforcement for the worst offenders.

The Circular Economy Bill will also allow ministers to place charges on single-use items such as coffee cups to encourage the move to reusable alternatives.

Lorna Slater. Picture: PA

Meanwhile, local authorities will be given additional enforcement powers to allow them to crack down on fly-tipping and littering from cars.

Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said many of the measures were welcome, but “too little, too late”. He said: “These things can only work when you bring the public along too, and too often the Scottish Government has tried to impose ill-thought through plans on the population.”

Green circular economy minister Lorna Slater said: “I want everyone in the country to experience a modern, easy-to-use waste service that makes it easy for people to do the right thing for the planet. The Circular Economy Bill with give local councils and the Scottish Government the powers they need to transform our economy and tackle throw-away culture.

“Of course, the best way of tackling waste is to not create it in the first place. There are huge economic opportunities in the circular economy and we have already seen businesses in Scotland creating jobs by turning what we might otherwise throw away into valuable new products and services.”

Documents accompanying the new legislation highlight that many households fail to correctly separate recyclable waste, adding: “Contamination makes managing recycling collections more costly and, in extreme cases, can mean the whole load has to be taken for incineration or landfill.”

Councils are limited to “serving warning notices and working with households to address contamination”, the documents say, adding: “In the most serious cases, a recycling service can be withdrawn if contamination within a recycling container is not addressed.”

Local authorities can issue notices to households requiring that waste be placed in the appropriate bin – for example, landfill, food waste or dry recycling. Failure to comply with a notice is a criminal offence in Scotland. However, in England, councils are able to issue penalty charges to householders who have not complied with notices, and in Wales, fixed penalty notices are available as an alternative to criminal prosecution.

The documents say there is no currently statutory basis for issuing fixed penalty notices or civil penalties in Scotland, adding: “The Scottish Government considers this to be a gap in local authorities’ enforcement powers and inconsistent with the powers available to them to address other issues (e.g. litter and fly-tipping).”

Ministers will have the power to issue guidance on the use of the new measures, for example by setting out scenarios in which penalty charges or fixed penalty notices may be issued.

The documents add: “The overall aim of this policy is to provide local authorities with both a purely civil means of enforcement, which is anticipated to be the primary means of enforcement, and a fixed penalty notice procedure available for householders who persistently and deliberately do not comply with existing obligations in relation to household recycling, with the further option of criminal enforcement for more serious and persistent offending.”