‘Wrong bin’ fines could lead to neighbours snitching on each other, MSPs told

There may be “unintended consequences” in plans to introduce fixed penalty notices for households who put the wrong items in their bins, a charity has warned MSPs.

Problems around communal bins may lead to neighbours feeling they have to “tell on each other”, the MSPs heard.

The Scottish Government’s Circular Economy Bill would create a legal “duty of care” for households around the transfer of waste.

As it scrutinised the Bill, Holyrood’s Net Zero Committee was told the large number of shared bins in properties such as tenements would make enforcing such a rule difficult.

The Bill is designed to tackle Scotland’s “throwaway culture”, encouraging recycling by allowing for charges for single-use items like coffee cups.

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland said they were concerned that individuals on low incomes may end up being penalised.

Charis Scott, the group’s campaigns and communications lead, said: “One of the things to highlight is the unintended consequences of these kinds of systems.”

Councils have differing policies when it comes to recycling, which may be confusing for people travelling from one area to another.

As an example, she said the city of Vienne in south-east France had introduced charges for waste bins, which led to residents “travelling to other local authorities and putting waste in bins there”.

There was also an increase in littering which had not been a problem previously, she said.

Many households in Scotland have shared bins, she said, meaning it would be difficult to identify who is responsible for breaking the rules.

Ms Scott said: “Are you then creating a culture of neighbours having to tell on each other, and causing conflict within neighbours?”

Emma Hallett, of Wrap Cymru, told the committee how household recycling schemes worked in Wales.

She said fines were only issued as a last resort in cases of “gross contamination”, such as consistently putting things like nappies in recycling.

Meanwhile, Line Kikkenborg Christensen of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, urged the Government to recognise the impact of Scottish consumption abroad.

She said the demand for resources used here fuelled human rights abuses and conflicts abroad, saying “we all have a role to play in trying to mitigate these issues”.