RESIDENTS in Scotland's capital who have not had their rubbish collected for weeks have won an apology.
City of Edinburgh Council's plans for a new waste pick-up service was implemented on September 10, but it means green wheelie bins are now only emptied every fortnight.
The city council has admitted its complaints service has failed to cope with the problems the changes have caused.
Environment convener, Lesley Hinds, said they were addressing the issues.
The new measures have been put into action in a bid to encourage residents to use recycling boxes instead of waste bins.
Residents recycle one-third of the city's waste, but the figure must rise to 50% by 2014 and 70% by 2025 in order to meet targets. The city currently dumps 148,000 tonnes of rubbish at landfill sites each year, with an average of about 0.5 tonnes of rubbish sent to the premises.
Ms Hinds has vowed to amend the waste collection routes in a bid to sort out the problems.
She said: "I would like to apologise to any of the individuals or areas that have suffered, not getting the service I would expect.
"Four weeks in and we are getting to the back of it, we are addressing the issues."
The council says food waste makes up around one-third of rubbish in an average bin, and anticipates that those who use its food recycling scheme will produce less domestic waste.
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