Council relaunches bin bag battle

There will be a charge for waste which does not fit in a bin

A refuse collection charge plan has been revived by a council which ditched a previous scheme due to public outcry.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is to charge 50p per bag for side waste left next to its wheelie bins.

Two years ago councillors admitted they had "got it wrong" when they attempted to introduce a similar scheme.

The authority said the time was now right to bring in the charges as part of a range of measures to make it the "greenest council in Scotland".

The charge for rubbish left next to wheelie bins is part of a wider "waste strategy" and would be introduced in April next year.

It will also see "blue box" paper collections scrapped by 2010, a £30 charge for white goods uplifts introduced and a review of recycling points across the region.

The claim by the council that these proposals are about helping the environment is an insult to people's intelligence Councillor Colin Smyth

The overall aim is to dramatically reduce the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill.

Council leader Ivor Hyslop said the opening of an Eco Deco plant, which takes waste and breaks it down into reusable components, was starting to have a real impact.

"We're building the greenest council in Scotland - these decisions take us further towards that ambitious goal for Dumfries and Galloway," he said.

However, he said the "key to change" was to stop people producing waste in the first place.

He confirmed the reintroduction of the decision to charge for side waste.

"There will be a charge if you produce more waste than your wheelie bin can take in a week," he said.

"This will go hand-in-hand with a campaign to increase composting, stop food waste and a series of other initiatives to help people cut their waste."

The move has been criticised by opposition Labour councillors.

Spokesman Colin Smyth said: "The claim by the council that these proposals are about helping the environment is an insult to people's intelligence.

"This has nothing to do with making our region greener - it's about the council trying to fleece more cash out of the people of Dumfries and Galloway."