Dumfries and Galloway Council Remove Bins to Deter Littering

Dumfries and Galloway Council Remove Bins to Deter Littering

Dumfries & Galloway Council are trying something new to take on litter louts; they’re removing bins. The council claim that there is evidence that taking bins away from litter hotspots can actually encourage people to take their litter home, whereas if they see an overflowing bin, they are likely to dump it. The council has proposed trialling a scheme to remove bins from laybys on trunk roads.

The evidence

A report presented in the council’s communities meeting claimed that people are more likely to take their rubbish home if there are no bins, and that bins that are stationed in areas that are not regularly serviced by rubbish collectors are left to overflow, which attracts more litter. If bins are full, people tend to just leave rubbish beside them. Rubbish is then blown across the landscape or spread around by scavengers.

How will the scheme work?

The report proposed removing up to 4 trunk road layby bins in Stewartry, Wigtown, Nithsdale, Annandale, and Eskdale. The bins will be removed from known litter hotspots and they’ll be replaced with signs encouraging people to take their litter home.

Keep Scotland Beautiful will provide some of the signs for free but the council will need to buy the others for around £200 each.

Results from other areas

A similar scheme has been tried in South Ayrshire, and it resulted in a definite reduction in litter. Another scheme in Angus only noted a slight improvement however after the bins were taken away, and in some areas, the litter even got worse.

The message from the council is that it’s not just about taking the bins away, people have to change their behaviour, and the council committee will be presented with a report detailing the results in other areas before they make up their mind about the proposals.