By Judith Tonner

Copyright dailyrecord

South Lanarkshire residents have a second chance to snap up a free compost bin after a hugely popular council pilot scheme was doubled in size following the initial “exceptional response”. The local authority is making a further 330 garden composters available on a first-come, first-served basis to allow residents with gardens to recycle their garden waste including grass cuttings, leaves, twigs and weeds – after original launch supplies in August were taken up in just two hours. Funding for the expanded project is being made available through the council’s climate emergency fund, with the news being announced during the current annual climate week. South Lanarkshire first launched the home composting trial last month to gauge householders’ interest in an alternative option for garden waste, following the introduction of a £45 annual charge for continued collection of the burgundy food and garden bins. All 360 of the free bins were allocated within 120 minutes amid a flurry of responses as residents rushed to take part; with council officials praising the scale of response and immediately announcing plans to expand the scheme. Now the second phase is open for applications, with interested householders asked to complete an online form to express interest and to agree to criteria including agreeing to provide feedback in a year’s time and having a garden with suitable space for the bins, which are 90cm tall and 74cm wide. Community and enterprise resources chair Councillor Robert Brown said: “The demand from residents wishing to take part in the council’s composter pilot project was so high last time that we have decided to extend the pilot to allow more households to participate; we are also very keen to hear feedback as part of the consultation exercise.” He added: “Composting turns waste into a useful resource and can be used in a variety of ways to help gardens and plants flourish; it’s great for the environment, and it will save money compared to purchasing your own compost.” Elected members on the council’s climate change and sustainability committee agreed the initial £5000 first-phase pilot in March to test demand and establish “the feasibility of introducing an initiative where composting bins [are] made available to residents as an alternative to purchasing a garden waste permit”. The composter pilot is one of 14 projects being supported by South Lanarkshire’s climate emergency fund, along with repairs to the Clyde Walkway, improvements at country parks and implementing a school uniform recycling pilot scheme. South Lanarkshire is just the sixth local authority in Scotland to provide composting equipment to residents and only the second doing so free of charge. Councillors were told earlier in the year: “Following conclusion of the pilot and if there is demand for this type of bin, officers will bring forward a further paper for members to consider options for home composting [which] will include [providing] advice only, bin at discounted rate [or] bin fully funded by council.” *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .