The council's successful pilot project to tackle issues around commercial waste in eight areas within the city centre is now moving on to its next stage with a roll-out across the rest of the city centre by the end of March.

This is the next stage in a process which will see the project being rolled-out across the whole of Glasgow by early March 2019, and city centre businesses are now being contacted with more advice on the changes.

The primary aim of the project - which was achieved in the pilot areas - was to substantially reduce the adverse impact of the then current waste collection practices (especially the use of bulky, brightly-coloured commercial waste containers on streets, pavements and lanes) to enhance the appearance of the area making it more pleasant for to live, work and study there.

An additional aim was the tackling of accessibility and recycling issues as well as reducing the amount of spilled waste and litter on city centre streets and lanes, all with a view to potentially expanding the scheme to the rest of the city centre and out across Glasgow.

The council has engaged with city centre stakeholders throughout this process, and a survey found strong support from local residents and businesses, with the latter period of the pilot project seeing the eight locations completely clear of the 460 commercial waste containers that had previously been stored on the area's streets.

An evaluation of the pilot project, carried out by Keep Scotland Beautiful on behalf of the council, found an improvement in environmental conditions resulting in the highest cleanliness score in a decade as a result. This and other data compiled by the council showed a clear need for the project to continue and be extended into other parts of the city.

In addition to the continued communication with city centre businesses, Zero Waste Scotland and Resource Efficient Scotland will run waste minimisation workshops at The Lighthouse on 7 & 14 March.

Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm, said: "The roll-out of our commercial waste scheme across the entire city centre by 31 March is welcome news for all the area's people and organisations. The success of the scheme so far has undoubtedly made those areas cleaner, greener and safer, and we will continue to work with everyone concerned as we expand the project across the city over the next 13 months."

The roll-out timetable of the project's expansion is as follows:

· The entire city centre to be compliant by the end of March 2018;

· The north-west of Glasgow to be compliant by 15 September 2018;

· The south of Glasgow to be compliant by 8 December 2018; and

· The north-east of Glasgow to be compliant by 2 March 2019.