Spare bins cost OIC £188,000

Orkney Islands Council has confirmed it has 9,500 spare wheelie bins — worth more than £188,000 — following the implementation of an alternate weekly waste collection scheme.

The project has seen 24,000 bins delivered between 9,100 homes on the Mainland and linked south isles. However, according to the council, the number of “opt outs and alternative solutions” to the alternate collection has been higher than anticipated.

A council statement said that the bins were bought in bulk to make savings on the unit cost.

It also said there are plans to make use of a “significant number” of the extra bins.

In November, last year, councillors heard that savings forecast had been “swamped” by the initial costs of rolling out the project, and although local authority officials did expect savings to be made, they said it was too early to tell how much the scheme would cost in the long-term.