HOMES in the South Side of Glasgow will move to a reduced bin collection from today - marking the end to a city-wide rollout.

Main door properties who rely on a kerbside collection for their green wheelie bin will transfer from a fortnightly to a three-weekly pick-up.

The controversial change began as a pilot in the north east in October last year, before the Glasgow Times revealed plans for it be rolled out across the city.

Glasgow City Council has been adamant the change is a vital step in reducing the amount of waste dumped into the city's landfills, while simultaneously driving up recycling rates - which are currently lagging behind other areas throughout the UK.

READ MORE: Pressure mounts for Glasgow City Council to scrap three-weekly bin collection

However, critics have called for the plans to be halted to allow for a full consultation with the public prior to the change.

GMB Union, who received thousands of responses to a survey calling for the decision to be reversed, has called the move "nothing more than a budget cut" and insisted it is not the way to handle Glasgow's "waste crisis".

Speaking ahead of the changes last month, David Hume, GMB Scotland organiser, said:“Workers and the public are on the same page. They are against three weekly collections, they feel disenfranchised by the council’s decision-making processes, and they want investment in the cleansing service to tackle this crisis.

“But the council sounds out of touch with the needs of Glaswegians. You can’t cut your way out of a crisis and demand households recycle more when there isn’t a properly resourced service to support it. “

Glasgow City Council has vehemently defended the plan and denied allegations the move was powered by budgetary concerns.
A spokesman for the council said: “From April 5 all kerbside collections for general waste will be on a three weekly cycle across the city and this will complete the roll out of changes to bins collection from homes with a front and back door.
“The new arrangements put an emphasis on recycling with blue bins for dry recyclables and brown bins for food and garden waste continuing to be emptied every two weeks.
“With research showing that in the main 60% of the contents of a general waste bin could be recycled, the changes are to help motivate more households to make better use of all the recycling bins that are available to them.
“ Three weekly kerbside collections for general waste have worked for other local authorities and our staff have told us they prefer the new system as it means fewer collections to make and easier routes to follow. 
“This change to kerbside collections for general waste comes directly from the Household Recycling Charter that the council signed up to in 2019.
“The charter says we should aim to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste that cannot be recycled, but also indicates there should be a limit on how much general waste a household generates over the course of a collection cycle. 

READ MORE: Glasgow's three-weekly bin collection rolled out

“Based on the most recent figures a quarter of our 250,000 tonnes of household waste is recycled each year, which means the city’s rubbish creates a climate impact of 774,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. 
“The council’s position is that the city is facing a climate crisis and that we must aim to be carbon neutral by 2030. 
“Three weekly kerbside collections for general waste will help to improve the city’s recycling rate as part of a much wider effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the city.
“ If a household finds they need an extra recycling bin then we will provide that free of charge and we will also provide a larger general waste bin for certain households that create large amounts of waste, such as those with medical needs.”