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The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh were declared a World Heritage Site (WHS) by UNESCO in 1995. They stated these parts of the city ‘represent a remarkable blend of two urban phenomena: organic medieval growth and 18th and 19th century town planning’. 

At the Transport and Environment Committee in , proposals for improving the waste and recycling service within the WHS were approved. The WHS was split into Phase 5 (Old Town and George Street corridor) and Phase 6 (New Town, West End, part of Stockbridge and the remaining areas within the WHS).

Why the waste and recycling services need to change

We have ambitious targets to become carbon neutral by 2030 and to meet these we need to ensure our recycling rates and quality of recycling are improved. We want every resident in Edinburgh to have equal opportunities to recycle their waste whether they use communal bins or gull proof sacks. These services need to change because they currently do not provide enough capacity for recycling. This leads to misuse of and issues with communal bins such as overflowing bins and increased litter.

Background information

Work has taken place since 2021 to plan improvement in this area and some of the details and documents are included below.

• we have worked with Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland to ensure waste and recycling services do not undermine the character of the WHS
• public information sessions took place in November 2021 in several locations across the Old Town and New Town, with information about current and proposed services for waste
• the  is available
• independent research into potential alternative recycling options was published and submitted to committee as part of the update to  in November 2023
• a trial of green gull proof sacks for recycling has taken place since October 2022 in a small number of streets in the New Town. This has been successful and has been used to inform future plans for streets with the gull proof sack service

Phase 5 (Old Town and George Street corridor)

We are installing around 60 bin hubs in this part of the city centre and you can view the full plans  online Phase 5 – 60 hubs. This area is in the World Heritage Site so we have engaged with various heritage bodies and have agreed the following changes to reduce the visual impact of bin hubs:

• the standard metal bars at each end of the bin hub are usually chrome but we have sourced and purchased a bespoke black metal design for these bin hubs.
• a dark green lid will be used for the mixed recycling bins.
• the standard glass recycling bin lid is purple but within the WHS the lid will be mostly black apart from a purple flap.

Consultation

In May 2024, we sent letters to over 2700 residents and 440 businesses and held information drop-in sessions. An overview of the feedback, changes made to bin hub locations and other information about the consultation is available in Appendix 1 of the .

Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs)

We use the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process to change on-street restrictions which allow bin hubs to be placed. The process includes 1st stage Consultation (known as Stage 1) where plans are shared with statutory consultees for comment. Residents can submit comments, formal objections, and notes of support when TROs are advertised for the second stage public consultation (Known as Stage 2).

TRO/24/23 for Phase 5 Old Town completed Stage 1 last year (August 23- September 13) and the Stage 2 advert is scheduled to start on 18 July 2025.

More information about TROs, how to register for alerts and details on providing feedback is available at this webpage.

Installation of bin hubs

It is expected that bin hubs will be installed across the Old Town starting in October. Some bin hubs are linked to other ongoing works so their implementation may be delayed or an interim solution put in place:

• impacts hubs in Lothian Street and North Bank Street. Work is also scheduled in Teviot Place and Forrest Road which will see bin hubs provided for residents
• Lawnmarket works and the changes to the road layout may impact hubs in Johnston Terrace

Additionally, a hub at Baxter’s Place was installed as part of the Tram works and a hub at Greenside Row is an existing location so the bins in both hubs were changed to heritage bins in 2024. A hub at Calton Road was installed in October 2024.

Phase 6 - New Town and West End

Initial proposals and consultation

Information on the approach for Phase 6 was included in the  Working closely with Neighbourhood Environmental Services and colleagues in Operations we identified the most suitable option for collecting waste and recycling on a street-by-street basis. Please see links below for information sent to residents in February which provided details on the proposal for their street and additional information about the services.

At the start of the consultation period, which was open February 21 – April 4, we wrote to around 9,000 properties. The consultation included an online survey which received 1,700 responses. Six public information sessions for residents were also held. The consultation outcomes and final service recommendations for each street were reported to .

Additional consultation

The following 7 streets will see further consultation on their waste and recycling service: Carlton Terrace Mews, Regent Terrace Mews, Royal Terrace Mews, Drumsheugh Gardens, Eglinton Crescent, Lennox Street and Royal Circus (North). Details of the additional consultation will be shared in the coming weeks.

Next steps

Most streets in Phase 6 will see plans progressing to either refresh their gull proof sack service or to introduce communal bin hubs. For properties retaining their existing gull proof sack service, we are in the process of buying more sacks and will be in touch with residents shortly.

For properties on the communal bin service, we are currently updating plans to show all proposed bin hub locations. These will consider the changes to bin hub design agreed at Transport and Environment Committee. We will write to all properties when plans are available online for comment.

Further information

If you have any questions or require further information about any specific planned works, you can contact the project team.