Monday July 13th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Editor, Phil Bowen
Midlothian Labour councillors have criticised the SNP administration councillors for presenting the rollout of the new green recycling bins as a “success”, despite widespread public frustration and significant operational failures across the county. They say it is insulting to residents.
Labour councillors say the SNP’s praise for the roll out is not shared by residents, who have faced missed deliveries, confusion over new collection schedules, and repeated failures to complete bin lorry routes – leaving entire streets uncollected. They say overall the council is failing to collect around 5,000 bins a week.
Councillor Willie McEwan, speaking on behalf of the Labour Group, said:
“Residents deserve honesty, not spin. The SNP Councillors congratulate themselves while communities across Midlothian live with disruption, confusion, and basic service failures. The reality on the ground simply does not match the glowing picture being presented. If the Cabinet member with responsibility for waste services, Cllr Diane Alexander and deputy Provost Douglas Bowen claim this as a success then I would hate to see how bad things would need to be to be classed as a failure”
The Labour Group has highlighted the following issues:
– new bins not delivered to households
– confusion on collection days caused by poorly communicated changes to collection schedules
– bin lorries frequently unable to complete routes within the working day, resulting in whole areas being missed
– a lack of adequate planning and resourcing for the rollout
– a hasty implementation driven by concerns about losing the Scottish Government grant, despite the funding having been available for a considerable time
Tweet Share on Facebook
