Highland Council suggests fining improper use of bins

Most Highland households have a bin for recycling paper and tins

A council has suggested fines would help to encourage households to put rubbish in the correct recycling bins collected by the local authority.

Highland Council has proposed making a "strong recommendation" to the Scottish government that fixed penalty notices (FPN) be extended to cover recycling.

The authority has pointed out that in England people can be fined if they throw waste in the wrong bin.

The government has been consulting on its Zero Waste plan.

Highland Council has drafted a response to the government proposals.

Councillors on the authority's transport, environmental and community (TEC) services committee have been asked to consider the response.

Reducing rubbish is a priority for Highland Council.

In September 2009, it said moving refuse from Skye to a landfill site near Falkirk resulted in one of the costliest disposals in Scotland.

Most households are provided with bins for garden waste, everyday non-recyclable rubbish and a container for paper and tins.

The council has also been trying out bins for other recycling in some communities.

In the draft response, officers said powers available to Scottish authorities for controlling what goes into bins were limited.

Their report to the TEC services committee said: "As part of the response to this consultation a strong recommendation is made to extend the use of FPNs to Scotland as a means of encouraging people to use the recycling bins provided correctly."