Families face having to wait for four weeks for household rubbish, including food waste, to be collected (file picture) Families face having to wait for four weeks for household rubbish, including food waste, to be collected. Labour-run Fife Council yesterday became the first local authority in the UK to announce a trial of monthly bin pick-ups. It means food scraps and rubbish including soiled nappies, pet waste, used kitchen towels and sanitary products will be left to rot for weeks. Other councils are monitoring the scheme and East Ayrshire Council is to bring in three-weekly collections by the end of May. Last night the initiative – which Fife Council claims will save £900,000 a year from 2021 when extra limits will apply to landfill waste – was criticised as another reduction in the service to householders as councils escalate their ‘green’ crusade. Scottish Tory environment spokesman Jamie McGrigor said: ‘People across Scotland have been deeply unhappy about bin collections being reduced to fortnightly. ‘They will be even more furious at the prospect of this halving again. ‘It’s a huge inconvenience for families, particularly those with babies, and frankly this experiment has gone far enough.’ Fife Council says it has to bring in the scheme because of a need to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, due to punitive EU taxation. In addition, from January 1, 2021, landfilling will no longer be an option for biodegradable waste disposal because of new waste regulations. The main alternative is incineration which the council believes ‘may be significantly more expensive than landfilling.’ A separate Fife trial, in addition to monthly collections, will see such general waste picked up once every three weeks, with the council upping recycling collections to help householders cope with the build-up of festering rubbish. Four bins are used by Fife householders: one for general or non-recyclable waste – also known as ‘residual’ rubbish – another for cans and plastic, a third for paper and card and the fourth for food and garden waste. Under the four-weekly scheme, families who use nappies will be offered fortnightly pick-ups of their general waste. But the people participating in the three-weekly trial who throw out nappies will have to wait for the full three weeks for them to be picked up – though they will be able to get bigger bins. The scheme means food scraps and rubbish including soiled nappies, pet waste, used kitchen towels and sanitary products will be left to rot for weeks (file picture) Council officials said ‘criteria will be developed for this’ so it is clear when people will be entitled to a larger landfill bin, for example if they have nappies or medical needs. At the moment, the council offers ‘additional capacity for those who have two or more children aged three or under and those with the medical requirements.’ In the winter months, between November and February, food and garden waste will only be collected once a month under both of the Fife trials, with fortnightly pick-ups during the summer. At the moment, all food waste in the region is picked up every fortnight throughout the year. But the changes will fuel fears of vermin infestation. Rentokil has previously warned that rats will target rubbish regardless of the time of year and can gnaw through food packaging. Chris Ewing, chief operating officer of Resource Efficient Solutions - the new company set up by Fife Council to provide waste and consultancy services - said: ‘Fife is well-placed to meet the Scottish Government target of 60 per cent recycling by 2020 but considerable effort will have to be made now to meet the 2025 target of 70 per cent recycling of all wastes. ‘If no improvements are made to the current four bin system and the cost for landfill disposals stays the same this could cost the council an extra £1.5 million a year.’ Scottish Tory environment spokesman Jamie McGrigor (pictured) said people across Scotland have been 'deeply unhappy' about bin collections being reduced to fortnightly . The council hopes the changes will be extended across the region by 2018 depending on the outcome of the trials. Locations have not yet been decided. But last night a spokesman for TaxpayersScotland said: ‘Bin collection is one of the most basic services which taxpayers expect in exchange for their council tax. ‘Allowing food waste to fester in people’s bins for a month is simply outrageous. ‘What exactly is the council spending residents’ money on which justifies this drastic cut in basic bin collection?’ Last year, Highland Council also revealed plans to cut the frequency of collections including food waste but backed down and dropped them after a backlash. The Scottish Government has said it is ‘up to individual councils to decide what is best for their local area in close consultation with residents.’ A Scottish Daily Mail investigation in 2013 found that most councils had moved to fortnightly collections, or were considering doing so, with officials mounting a crackdown on families who failed to fit two weeks’ rubbish into one wheelie bin. In 2013, Falkirk Council announced it would become the first in Britain to introduce bin collections every three weeks, for ‘residual waste’, saying the change would save £1.4 million a year, as landfill taxes soar. The money, it claimed, could pay for ten elderly people in a residential home or fund ten nursery classes. The Mail has also revealed that bins will be cut in size by almost half, with councils set to replace half a million wheelie bins with miniature versions. Four of Scotland’s largest councils - Fife, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Perth and Kinross - are cutting bin sizes from the standard 240 litres to only 180 litres or even 140 litres, to be picked up every fortnight. Families in Aberdeen and Edinburgh risk a criminal record if they overfill these new bins and could be taken to court simply for leaving out extra black bags. The cost of the new bins could hit £20.5million, plus the cost of disposing of the old ones.
Fife Council is first local authority in UK to announce monthly bin pick-ups . Controversial trial will see rubbish left uncollected for up to four weeks . Council claims the scheme will save taxpayers £900,000 a year from 2021 . But it has been criticised as another reduction in service to householders .