City of Edinburgh Extends Palm Recycling Contract

Palm Recycling, a U.K.-based recycling firm, has received a one-year extension to the curbside recycling service it provides to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. The city council has extended the company’s contract through 2013.

Last year Palm Recycling was awarded an interim contract to provide additional curbside recycling services to 135,000 homes in the city. The company also added plastic bottles and batteries to the list of items it collected, which included paper, cardboard, glass, cans and textiles. The additional commodities, the company hopes, will increase the city’s recycling rate toward its goal of 75 percent by 2020.

The contract extension ensures a continuance of the additional material collections, which last year helped reduce the city’s landfilling costs, Palm Recycling says.

Palm Recycling says its involvement has made it easier for residents to recycle more materials and reduce the levels of household garbage. The company has worked with the Edinburgh City Council for more than 15 years and introduced a source-segregated curbside recycling scheme in 2005.

“Households in Edinburgh can recycle items that would have historically have been consigned to landfill,” says Ross Johnstone, business manager for Palm Recycling. “Scotland’s ‘Zero Waste Plan’ sets out a vision for a zero-waste society where all waste is considered a valuable resource and schemes like Edinburgh City Council’s are a step in the right direction towards achieving this.”

Angus Murdoch, strategy and recycling officer for Edinburgh’s city council, adds, “Palm Recycling has always provided a high quality service, and we are delighted to continue the current arrangement for a further year.”