Waste weighing trial taking place in your area

What are the benefits of taking part in the trial?

By taking part in the trial you will be helping us to learn more about the amounts of waste and recycling produced by individual households as well as how often residents are using recycling services. This information will be used to:

• Identify areas for improvement and service efficiencies.
• Allow for more accurate planning for collection routes.
• Reduce vehicle travel times and emissions.
• Better resource planning of staff.
• Identify potential financial savings.

Improving our service and increasing our recycling rate means less waste is disposed of and more resources are recovered. This is an important action set out in our plans to tackle climate change.

What areas are taking part in the trial?

A total of 5,000 households in Cumbernauld, Moodiesburn and Mollinsburn have been chosen to take part in the trial. This includes a variety of house types to represent the different housing we have across North Lanarkshire. Each house also has the four bins required for the council’s full recycling service, and we can identify which bins belong to each household.

When will the bin tags be installed?

During February and March we will be fitting the bin tags to each of your four bins. This will be done routinely as part of your three-weekly collection. Our collection crew will empty your bin(s) then an installation team will follow to fit the bin tags.

On those days, we will ask you to present your bins at the kerbside as normal in the morning but leave them out until 6pm to allow time for the bin tag to be fitted.

If you receive an assisted bin collection – where we pull out and return your bin before and after collection – our crew will collect your bin as usual to be emptied. Your bin – with the bin tag fitted - will be returned to the agreed collection point by 6pm.

How long will the trial last?

The trial is taking place over a two-year period. This is to allow sufficient time to test the equipment and gather a defined period of bin weight data, to assist our service planning.

What if I don’t want to take part in the trial?

We would encourage everyone in the trial area to take part; the more households involved, the more we can learn from the project. This is a first for Scotland, and we hope it will help us improve waste and recycling services in future.

Before deciding not to take part in the trial please read the questions and answers on this page – they may reassure you about the data we are collecting and what we are using it for.

If you would still prefer not to take part you can opt-out using the link at the bottom of this page. You must opt-out by 28 January - after this date your bin(s) may be fitted with a tag but we will not record bin weights for your property.

Remember – you only need to opt-out if you have received a leaflet in the post. If you have not received a leaflet then your property is not part of the trial and you do not need to do anything further.

What is RFID technology?

RFID is technology used in everyday activities including:

• Credit and debit cards, which often come with a built-in RFID chip to allow contactless payments
• Collecting points at a shop or a supermarket using a card or fob for the contactless transactions
• Prepaid travel cards, including Scotrail’s Smartcard
• Access control to offices, gyms and other buildings using a security card or tag
• Hotel room access using a key card
• Identification of animals and pets using microchips

RFID is not:

• a camera – it cannot be used to check what is in a bin
• a microphone or listening device
• being fitted so that residents can be charged for their waste
• collecting any personal data about residents

What do the bin tags look like?

The bin tags are 30mm in diameter by 15mm in depth and will be fitted to the inside of each of your four household bins.

How do the bin tags work?

Each bin tag holds a unique hexadecimal code which is assigned to a property and only this code can be seen when scanned. The bin tag does not hold any personal information, such as your name and address. The code allows us to identify each bin as belonging to that particular property.

When your bin is emptied, it is weighed by the lift on the bin lorry and the weight is automatically recorded against the code on the bin tag.

Will you be recording any personal information about my household?

No personal details are being held or gathered as part of the trial. The bin tag only holds one piece of information, an identifying hexadecimal code. That code is assigned to the property that each bin belongs to. The bin tag does not hold any personal information, such as your name and address.

The waste and recycling service has an existing database of all households in North Lanarkshire, which is necessary for the delivery of the service. That database only holds addresses, the type of bin at each property, and the collection route the property is on. For households in the trial area, the weight of each bin will also be recorded.

Who will be responsible for data collected in the trial?

The data will be held by Zero Waste Scotland and shared with the council.

Will you be recording what’s in my bins?

No. The technology used in this trial only weighs each bin as part of our usual three-weekly collection.

Information on bin weights will be used to understand the overall amount of waste being recycled and help us plan improvements to waste services in future.

Will the bin crews be following covid safety guidance?

Yes. All our bin crews and installation teams will continue to follow Scottish Government safety guidance to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

What happens if my bins are damaged during the trial?

Our policy on replacing bins will not change during the trial.

Any new bins will be fitted with a replacement bin tag.

Will the bin tags be removed from my bins at the end of the trial?

No, as the bin tags contain no personal information other than a unique reference number, there is no need to remove them at the end of the trial.

Do you plan to use the bin tags in other areas of North Lanarkshire?

If the trial is successful, we may expand the RFID technology to the rest of the council area to allow us to gather bin weight information from more households.

Will this trial help improve recycling rates?

In a second phase of the trial, we plan to issue households with information about recycling and then monitor any changes in the weight of bins. This will help us measure the effectiveness of communication materials and the role they can play in improving our recycling performance.

Has this technology been used elsewhere?

Yes, waste weighing equipment is used in many other countries that have a better recycling performance than Scotland.

In Scotland and the UK it is regularly used by many commercial waste management companies. However, we are the first local authority in Scotland to trial the technology with residents, to understand its benefits.

Who is funding the trial?

Zero Waste Scotland is funding the trial as part of its work to understand more about waste collections and inform future policy developments for the Scottish Government.

The council is providing support with staff time and resources.

Who are Zero Waste Scotland and why are they funding this trial?

Zero Waste Scotland are a not-for-profit environmental organisation, they exist to lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly, focusing on where they can have the greatest impact on climate change. Using evidence and insight, their goal is to inform policy, and motivate individuals and businesses to embrace the environmental, economic, and social benefits of a circular economy.

The Scottish Government also has ambitious targets to increase recycling rates to 70%, to be net zero by 2030 and to end our contribution to climate change by 2045.

Zero Waste Scotland will use gathered weight data to better understand typical amounts of waste arisings produced by an individual household by household type, which when extrapolated to a national level can better support and inform Scottish Government policy developments in waste and recycling in the future.

Would power washing household bins affect the tag?

No. Residents can continue to use power washers on their bins after the tags are fitted.