Paper and cardboard facilities at Riverside Recycling Centre #dundeewestend


Since the reopening of the Riverside Recycling Centre after the initial COVID lockdowns, we have had complaints about the lack of both paper and cardboard facilities.

We have repeatedly raised this and have now had this welcome update from the council’s Waste Services Manager :

“I can confirm that paper and carboard can now be placed in the same skip for recycling, as per our new contractual arrangements that were reported to committee last year 

We have been on site today and reminded the attendants of this. 

We previously provided small chain lift skips for separate paper recycling but as part of our efficiency improvements we have replaced these with new small hook lift skips for paper/cardboard. 

These can be serviced by the same skip lorry that does the larger skips and negates the need for two different skip trucks to service the site. 

We will have the signage updated shortly to reflect this as well.”



Dundee recycling study

From the Psychology Department at the University of Dundee :


Residents are invited to take part in a study aiming to develop a greater understanding of recycling in the Dundee public.   Any Dundee resident aged over 18 can take part.

To find out more and to take part, go to https://dundee.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/is-it-easy-being-green1

Any questions – just e-mail rrsfhansen@dundee.ac.uk


Recycling calendar improvement proposal


I am very grateful to the West End resident who made the following good suggestion recently :

“I’d like to suggest an improvement on how the Council informs residents about the dates when the various refuse bins are collected. 

At the moment, as you will know, the Council mails out a card calendar, and on their website you can view or download an electronic version of the same card (https://my.dundeecity.gov.uk/service/bin_collection_calendar).

My suggestion is that they also provide a link on this page to a file that can be downloaded and then imported into an electronic calendar – the .ics format is commonly used for this purpose. This would be a progressive, useful, and not difficult addition to the service.

I did a quick search on other council sites, and the first one I found, Stirling Council, supported .ics as well as the card approach, so my suggestion is not fanciful.”

I raised this with the council’s waste services manager who raised it with the IT department to see if this was possible – and it is!    Here’s the helpful response from the waste services manager :

“IT has advised that this is possible and we shall submit an IT bid to have this completed.”



14% hike in garden waste collection charge not acceptable

I have criticised the proposal by the Dundee City Council administration to hike the Brown Bin charge to £40 a permit for the 2022 collection year and will be opposing the increase in the brown bin charge when it comes before the council’s Policy & Resources Committee next week.


The £5 increase represents a 14% hike – at a time when inflation is running at about 3%. It is completely unjustified and just a way of the council fleecing another £100 000 out of the Dundee public.

I have always opposed having a tax on recycling and felt that this would be a further disincentive to recycling. We should be encouraging more recycling not less and the garden tax increase will make matters worse. The council is trying to stop collecting side waste and increasing the brown bin tax will simply lead to more recycling going into grey bins, undermining their own side waste policy. This is not a good look. If anything, the brown bin charge should be reduced not increased.



Recycling company fined for poor health and safety management

A waste and recycling company has been fined after HSE inspectors discovered widespread poor management of health and safety risks at their site in West Drayton, London.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard that, on 21 March 2019, inspectors attended Iver Recycling (UK) Limited, Holloway Lane, West Drayton, to carry out a routine inspection, where they discovered widespread risk to employees and poor health and safety management of the site.

HSE revisited the site on 1 April 2019 with electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and civil engineering specialists to assess the site. In total, HSE issued nine Prohibition Notices and seven Improvement Notices. Conditions were so bad that an investigation was conducted to help understand the underlying causes of the conditions seen. The investigation concluded that a lack of competent advice, risk assessment and poor management had led to deterioration of conditions on site, despite previous enforcement being issued by HSE.

Iver Recycling (UK) Limited failed to appear at the hearing on 16 September 2021, and the case was heard in their absence. The court found that HSE’s case, a breach of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Section 2(1) had been proved. The company were issued with a £200,000 fine and order to pay cost of £7,125.72 and the victim surcharge of £170.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Pearce said: “Companies should be aware that if they fail to operate their businesses in a manner which protects the health and safety of those who work there, HSE will pursue those responsible to the highest possible level. The conditions seen at this site should not occur in 21st-century Britain.”Poor welfare conditions at the site

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk[1]
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ [2]
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3