Falkirk residents are set to be charged for having garden waste collected for the first time, under a proposed review of waste services.
The £35 annual fee for brown bin collections, as well as the return of a previously scrapped £40 fee for special uplifts, are contained in a report that will be heard by Falkirk Council 's executive on Tuesday December 6.
Other suggestions include Roughmute and Kinneil recycling centre opening at 10am, rather than 8am, with closing time remaining at 6pm, to reduce the reliance on casual staff and overtime.
The report to councillors says the changes are necessary to comply with changes to legislation, including a biodegradable landfill ban that will come into effect in 2025.
Removing some services and charging for others will also help the council to save cash as it faces a massive budget gap of £69 million over the next four years.
The review also includes plans to introduce a booking system to the recycling centres.
Councillors will also be asked to agree that larger green bins would only be granted to households with seven or more people in them, in a bid to encourage people to recycle more.
The report also suggests axing the council's environment enforcement team, whose role is to investigate fly tipping and littering offences and to issue fixed penalty notices where there is enough evidence.
The report rejects the idea that removing this service would increase fly-tipping and states that "there is no evidence to suggest that previously law-abiding residents would start fly-tipping following the removal of this team".
Where necessary, they say, other council staff would be trained to step in to deal with fly tipping on public land.
Another suggested change is the council will stop taking glass for collection. Instead, residents will be encouraged to use the Deposit Return Scheme, which is being introduced by the Scottish Government.
This will give consumers 20p for glass bottles, clear plastic (PET) drinks bottles and aluminium drinks cans they return via the scheme.
That's despite the fact this could mean a loss of revenue for the council of around £234,000, which is currently generated from the sale of glass, cans and plastics.
