Dumfries and Galloway waste scheme cost estimates pass £23m mark

New bins, vehicles and a zero-waste park are required for the region's waste service

The estimated cost of a new local authority waste service in south west Scotland has passed £23m.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is bringing in the system after it piloted a bin collection scheme in part of the region but never rolled it out.

A report has revealed that the development of a "zero-waste park" to deal with waste would exceed £13m.

This is on top of more than £8m for new bins and vehicles and more than £2m for "rectification" work at other sites.

They are facilities which were handed back at the end of a private finance initiative (PFI) deal last year.

The local authority currently operates a single wheelie-bin system in most of the region, but a multi-bin set-up was piloted in Wigtownshire in 2014.

Concerns have been raised previously at the lack of a clear final cost for the new scheme

However, the council ultimately decided to drop that scheme due to cost and health and safety concerns.

A new three-wheelie bin plan has now been agreed - meaning thousands of containers bought for the old system will not be needed.

The cost of new containers and vehicles had already been forecast at £8.2m.

A report said that in order to deliver a high-quality recycling service, investment would also be required at a zero-waste park in Dumfries.

A figure of £13.2m has now been attached to that project.

It does not include work needed to provide additional capacity at sites in Castle Douglas and Annan.

Concerns were raised earlier this year at the lack of a clear final end cost for the overall project.