Today The Edinburgh Reporter and crews from other broadcasters started out at the Elm Rose Cafe and Diner on Elm Row where the council was keen to show us that they have launched a drive to tackle rubbish, fly-tipping and trade waste dumped in the wrong place.
It should be said that the owner of the cafe does comply with all the rules but had offered himself up for the photo call!
Communal domestic bins now have stickers advising those who generate trade waste that they must not use domestic bins for their rubbish. Each business is supposed to have a trade waste agreement with a company who will remove their rubbish for them.
Nick Steenken and his colleague Andy Cunningham are Waste Compliance Officers and Environmental Wardens with The City of Edinburgh Council and their job (split among a team of five across the whole city) is to explain the rules to all the traders in the city.
The team is set up to visit businesses to make sure that they are abiding by the rules, and also to offer advice and guidance.
All business in Edinburgh must now segregate their waste, to separate the recyclables from the general waste. For example, if they are a food business they must have food bins removed separately.
Businesses are supposed to deal with glass within their own business premises and should store their glass bins there, unless they have applied for a dispensation sticker allowing them to keep their bins on the street.
It is viewed as a health and safety issue in the same way as food, and these particular types of bins are only allowed to be on the streets for collection for a certain length of time.
All businesses must now leave their bins out during a certain time window if their rubbish is put out on a public highway, otherwise the business has to keep rubbish inside their own premises for collection by a private waste collector.
The whole reasoning behind what the Waste Compliance Officers are doing right now is to educate not punish. But if the business does not comply with the rules. then a business can be fined with a fixed penalty notice of £200.
Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “We’re making a real effort to address issues with waste and cleansing in the capital, and the Our Edinburgh campaign is central to changing behaviour around things like litter-dropping and fly-tipping.
“By helping residents and businesses around Leith Walk to understand what can and can’t be disposed of in communal bins, amongst other measures, we really want to reduce the unsightly and frustrating problem of overflowing bins in the area.”
The first phase of Our Edinburgh, run over the summer, targeted litter-droppers in the city centre with brightly-coloured bins, portable ashtrays and ‘bin me’ labels for takeaway packaging. It also saw the installation of popular ‘ballot bins’ which encouraged people to vote with their (cigarette) butts on a series of fun and topical questions.
Find out more about the Council’s waste and street cleansing servicesonline, including information for businesses.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
