New software system will alert Glasgow council to bin problems

A council official said a programme means the public can be told if bin lorries can’t manage to get to a street in time.

It comes as recycling rates in the city have increased by five per cent in five years with the 2021 statistic – standing at nearly 31 per cent.

Plans to improve

Council executive director George Gillespie has admitted the local authority needs to improve the collection of waste at recycling points – with pictures of overflowing containers regularly posted on social media.

Responding to questions at a council meeting, Mr Gillespie – boss of neighbourhoods, regeneration and sustainability, said: “In terms of some of the recycling points we need to improve our performance in terms of servicing those points. That is where data comes into play.”

He said a new ‘Alloy’ system is being rolled out – which is to help the council get a real-time overview of what is happening on the ground.

He said: “Over the past five years our recycling rate within Glasgow has increased by five per cent over all which is huge increase.

He added: “We are making huge strides in improving recycling performance in Glasgow. We have now provided all the infrastructure we possibly can.”

More instant information

The waste update was provided following questions from Councillor Ade Aibinu (Conservative) over statistics on bin collection at this week’s operational performance and delivery scrutiny committee.

The Victoria Park politician felt statistics presented to the committee on waste did not reflect the situation on the ground

Official Eileen Marshall said new software will provide more instant information – which could even alert residents when teams can’t get to their street to lift bins on time.

Ms Marshall said: “As part of our new Alloy programme we will be able to determine our activity. At the moment we are responding to a schedule. When we are out with that new software programme we can capture streets we haven’t managed to get to. We will proactively alert the public and then we can reactively go back and address that – it may be due to a broken down vehicle or a blocked road.”

She added: “At the moment figures are determined by the public -we have no proof whether a person failed to present their bins.

She said schedules of collection can be changed if a bin overflows all the time -flagged up by recently introduced QR codes on bins

Pointing out the schedule responds to changing public demands, she said: “It is making sure we have the right data to provide the right service at the right time in the right area.”