A range of waste management solutions is being piloted across the Edinburgh World Heritage Site between May and October.
The measures under review in the New Town include:
- Black and grey food-waste recycling boxes for indoor storage of biodegradably wrapped scraps
- Retention of black bin bags in some areas (e.g. Regent and Calton Terraces)
- Black bin bags presented in gull-proof wrappers (e.g. Great King St)
- Collection of rubbish between 7pm and 11pm (also for parts of Leith)
- Distribution of: individual household wheelie-bins (e.g. Cumberland St); medium-sized on-street bins (1 per 12 households, e.g. Heriot Row); and large on-street bins (1 per 26 households, e.g. Forth St and Broughton Place).
With the pilot in place before the gulls’ breeding season begins, it is expected that reduced food supplies will reduce chick numbers and the birds’ consequent predation and sometimes aggressive behaviour.
The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust have agreed the scheme, which will be judged on the grounds of cleanliness, public reaction, and the impact on the city’s built heritage.
Mike Penny, City Centre and North Neighbourhood Partnership Manager, outlined the arrangements at the New Town and Broughton Community Council meeting on 4 April. ‘The current situation is untenable, and legislation means changes to waste management must be introduced by 2013,’ he told members. ‘These trials are about how to deliver improvements, not if.’