Wishaw’s town centre and green spaces are to have bigger bins installed to help reduce the problem of overflowing litter.
The new larger capacity rubbish bins will be installed across key locations in North Lanarkshire communities which the council claim will help keep streets clean and deliver a more efficient service.
Bagless, and with higher capacities of 240 and 260 litres, they will be emptied routinely on a three-weekly basis by North Lanarkshire Council’s bin lorries.
While the new bigger bins will be welcome, a significant number of smaller bins are also to be removed and won’t be replaced.
Councillor Michael McPake, convener of the Environment and Transportation Committee, said: “The new litter bins and collection service has been designed to reduce the litter on our streets, be more environmentally friendly, increase available litter capacity and deliver a more efficient service to the public.
“Smaller bins, like those on lampposts in popular parks, fill up quickly and can overflow, causing a mess on the surrounding grass or path. In addition, plastic bags are not used inside the bins so we will see a reduction of around 200,000 bags a year being disposed of, often to landfill as they can’t be recycled.
“With the bins being emptied by the lorries carrying our domestic waste collections, we will reduce the number of vans on the road, helping to reduce emissions and fuel costs.”
All types of litter, including bagged dog waste, can be placed in the new large bins. Although dog walkers are also being reminded that dog waste bags can also be placed in the owners’ general household wheelie bin.
The new bins will be installed on a rolling programme over a number of months, with smaller bins being removed. The first phase of the programme will be in the north of the council area, where the overall bin capacity will increase from 39,210 litres to 149,640 litres.
“The council invests significant resources in street cleaning, including picking up dropped litter – valuable resources which could be better spent in delivering local services,” Councillor McPake added.
“So I would appeal to local people to play their part by putting litter in a public bin or taking it home – let’s keep North Lanarkshire clean and safe for everyone.”
Details of the locations will be available on the council’s web site at https://nlcmaps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9d1eca95663642f484548f82e6aabcee
