County Borough Council has announced it will phase in 4-weekly residual waste collections across the County, following a successful trial, in a bid to boost recycling.
Recycling will continue to be collected every week, the Council says.
The year-long trial of 10,900 properties throughout the county showed recycling increased by 14% and black bin waste reduced by 31%, saving 1,040 tonnes from landfill, the equivalent of 87 double decker buses, the Council says.
Councillors recognised that while most residents in the trial area had taken up the challenge to recycle more and waste less, some people were having problems and more needed to be done to help.
“The message I want to present and I hope we can accept is that we accelerate our drive towards increasing recycling and reducing residual waste; that we educate ourselves in what that means and how we can help our residents achieve it.”
Some of the new measures proposed include a second bin for larger families, free bulky waste collections, mobile Recycling Centre services in rural areas, additional collections over Christmas, expansion of the nappy service and special assistance for particular circumstances such as when people miss a collection due to being on holiday.
Addressing the Cabinet, Council Leader, Cllr Gareth Jones, said, “Time is not on our side neither locally, nor globally. Increasingly, environmental and sustainability needs are changing political and economic policies. We are witnessing that – we have an opportunity to play our part in accelerating that change or stalling it.
“The message I want to present and I hope we can accept is that we accelerate our drive towards increasing recycling and reducing residual waste; that we educate ourselves in what that means and how we can help our residents achieve it.”
The move to 4-weekly black bin collections will be phased in by the end of 2019.
