Less than 10% of households in Dundee sign up to £11,000 recycling reminder app

Less than 10% of Dundee households have signed up to a council-run app reminding people when to put out their bins.

Dundee City Council launched the app, called MyBins, in January. The idea behind the initiative is to remind people when their bins are due to be emptied.

It cost the local authority £11,000 to develop and a further £4,660 each year to maintain.

As well as reminders, the app also provides updates on service disruptions, closures, seasonal information, as well as recycling tips.

Figures obtained from Dundee City Council reveal the My Bin app has a total of 4,991 users.

This is less than 10% of the total number of Dundee households which get their bins emptied by the council.

The number of households which the local authority currently collects waste from is 77,303 – 61% are kerbside collections and 39% are communal properties.

Bins and their funding have been a contentious subject in Dundee over the years.

Last year saw bin workers strike, leaving Dundee rubbish to pile high and business owners throughout the city fearing a vermin infestation.

The council also scrapped the collection of extra bags of rubbish – or “side waste” – from outside all homes that are not contained in a grey wheelie bin.

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The recently launched MyBins App is part of a wider waste and recycling strategy for the city by the council.

“The aim of the app is to support residents to fully participate in household recycling efforts by providing a convenient single point of access to all the information about what materials go in each bin and when to present them for collection as well as the other helpful Council resources and external organisations.

“Efforts continue to be made to raise awareness of the app amongst residents as well as the most appropriate ways to recycle and dispose of waste in the city.”