A report published by the Council to be considered by the Transport and Environment Committee on Thursday highlights improvements to the waste collection and cleansing service.
These will help to improve street cleanliness as well as the city’s recycling rates.
The report ncludes a number of improvements in progress to make sure the Capital continues to look at its best as well as proposals which require increased investment which will be considered during the budget setting process in February. Further information on these improvements can be found in the full report.
The Council’s award-winning ‘Our Edinburgh’ campaign which was implemented after detailed research, community engagement and learning from industry experts, such as Keep Scotland Beautiful, will be developed further to support this work and will include a programme of planned engagement with key stakeholders, such as community councils and residents and will focus on areas such as fly tipping and illegal disposal of waste.
During the recent strike action it was also clear how much waste builds up around takeaway businesses, particularly in the centre. Many businesses engaged with the Council to help keep the areas around their businesses clear and going forward the report highlights work to continue engaging with them to try to encourage this activity more widely.
Councillor Scott Arthur Environment Convener said:
Edinburgh is a fantastic city, but too often I'm ashamed by the level of mess I see on our streets. I know that issues such as graffiti and fly tipping need to be addressed, and Edinburgh’s new administration is committed to taking immediate action and making further improvements if funding can be found. We’re also going to further develop our award winning ‘Our Edinburgh’ campaign to educate members of the public on disposing of their waste responsibly.
I am proud that Edinburgh welcomes visitors from across the globe, but too often in recent years I have been ashamed of what they have seen – I am determined to halt this decline. The changes we want to make won’t just focus on tourists, however, I hope the improvements will reach every corner of our great city. We want to double the amount of litter bins in the city centre, deep clean every communal bin area and make it easier for people on low incomes to dispose of bulky household items.
During the recent strike action I welcomed the fact that many businesses kept the areas around their premises clean. We’re going to reach out to them, and other organisations, to further encourage them to engage with us on their corporate responsibility to keep this up. We do have powers we can use if businesses persist in not doing this, and we will not hesitate to use them with those which refuse to meet their legal obligations.