Sustainable Wardrobe Workshop

The Sustainable Wardrobe Workshop is a Gate Church Carbon Saving Project online event a week tomorrow – Saturday 24th April – at 11am.

The project team advise :

“Join us during Fashion Revolution Week to hear how you can make your wardrobe more sustainable and why this is so important, just as all the high street fast fashion brands are preparing to reopen.

We’ll be joined by Adele The Sustainable Stylist from House of Colour, who will be sharing her tips with us on how to thrift like a pro.

We’ll be sharing information about our Community Wardrobe and other useful local tips.

This will be an interactive session and we look forward to hearing your sustainable fashion tips.”

Furter information and how to take part is available here.

Riverside household waste recycling centre #dundeewestend

From the City Council :

“Please be aware that Riverside household waste recycling centre will be shut on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th March for re-surfacing works to take place.”

Other recycling facilities elsewhere are unaffected and a full list is available here.

Recycling update at the Riverside Recycling Centre #dundeewestend

A number of residents have queried with me why currently you cannot recycle cardboard at the Riverside Recycling Centre.

I raised this with environment management at the City Council and the Assistant Waste Services Manager has advised :

“The current waste acceptance restrictions at the two recycling centres and the reasons for them are detailed here.

Due to the requirements for social distancing, both Riverside (two zones) and Baldovie (three zones) are running at significantly reduced capacity.

As pretty much every resident has access to a paper/cardboard kerbside or communal bin, the decision was taken to should prioritise other waste commodities e.g. wood, waste electronic equipment etc. as we don’t have other locations where these waste types can be disposed of.

There are various mini recycling centres across the city that accept paper/cardboard. Obviously when the pandemic is over, we will reinstate all services at both sites.”

Food recycling update

A number of constituents have asked the position regarding the possible restoration of the food recycling service.

The council’s Head of Environment has updated me as follows :

“At the present time we are unable to recommence with the re-introduction of food waste collections, due to having to utilise available staff resources in order to ensure that the other collections are maintained. Unfortunately, the requirement to ensure safe physical distancing into waste collection operations slows down the collection operation significantly and requires more vehicles, staff and time to complete daily routes.

In order to reintroduce food waste collections, there is a similar requirement to allocate specific resources and to introduce engineering controls within cabs of the Refuse Collection Vehicles. Similar to many other local authorities, we are not yet in a position to return to regular collections of all waste streams at this time.

However, please be assured that my waste team are working hard to look at ways that we can re-introduce food waste collections over the coming months and I will provide you with more detail when I am able to update you further.”

Update about recycling centres

From the City Council :

Dundee City Council is to expand its recycling service to residents by extending operating hours and accepting more waste materials.

From Monday 22nd June, residents will have to access Baldovie Household Waste Recycling Centre from 9am to 8pm from Monday to Friday, and 9am to 5pm on the weekends. The Riverside recycling centre will also expand hours to 9am to 5pm daily.

The facilities will begin accepting clothing & textiles, batteries, fluorescent tubes, oil, TV’s & monitors, soil and turf in addition to the previous materials, such as general waste, garden waste, wood, metals, rubble, fridges & freezers, and gas cylinders & bottles.

Additional vehicles will be granted access to the centres from Monday if they have the relevant permit. This will include vans, pick-ups, 8 to 11 seated mini-buses and vehicles with a single-axle trailer being accepted on site.

The revised service comes as the Council continues its recovery phase from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Household Waste Recycling Centres will maintain its strict guidelines and physical distancing at all times.

A number of rules must be followed in order to maintain a safe and controlled environment.

These include :

• Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or self-isolating should NOT visit any HWRC site;

• The number of cars on site will be strictly limited;

• No commercial vans or twin-axle trailers will be allowed;

• Individuals should only visit when necessary, avoid queues and consider revisiting when quieter;

• No business waste will be accepted;

• We will be unable to provide assistance on site so only load items you can unload yourself;

• No walk-in disposals of waste will be allowed;

• The two-metre physical distancing rule must be respected at all times.

Further guidance on the Household Waste Recycling Centres is available on the Dundee City Council website here.

Residents are advised to check the website and social media channels before traveling, as rules are subject to change.