Cabinet Agrees Plans To Develop A New Waste And Recycling Service

A new waste collection service that will incorporate weekly recycling collections, fortnightly refuse bag collections, a two-bag limit per household and the introduction of a new nappy collection scheme is set to be developed for Bridgend County Borough. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Cabinet of Bridgend County Borough Council has agreed to develop the proposals following a comprehensive public consultation which asked local residents for their thoughts on a range of options designed to boost recycling and avoid financial penalties for missing strict new targets set by the Welsh Government. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Under the new requirements, the county borough will need to recycle 64 per cent of all waste by 2019-20 and 70 per cent by 2024-25. As the current kerbside system aims to recycle 58 per cent, changes have to be made in order to hit the new targets. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councillor Hywel Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “It’s important for people to realise that the current kerbside collection arrangements cannot remain in their current format and change is absolutely necessary. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“What we have done is to work with WRAP Cymru on identifying what methods would enable the county borough to hit the new targets, and to ask local people for their views on those proposals so we can take account of this in any subsequent decisions. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“At 76 per cent, the vast majority of responses to our public consultation on how waste should be collected in future made it clear that the preferred option is for a two-week, two-bag scheme, so we have listened to what local residents have said and have instructed council officers to start developing plans for a new waste contract based around this. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The issue of wheelie bins was more problematic. While well-liked, the consultation showed that they are popular with younger residents, but not with older people or residents who don’t have access to a driveway or garden or who may live on a steeply inclined street in one of our valley areas. As wheelie bins would also cost more than £2m and limit our options for making further improvements or changes to the service, we are not currently seeking to introduce them at this stage. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Instead, we have decided to look at issuing households with new coloured refuse bags in quantities that would be sufficient for covering the entire year. We will also look at ways of preventing abuse of the scheme and potential arrangements for larger households. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“One thing that proved to be extremely popular in the consultation feedback was a proposed collection scheme for nappies and other absorbent hygiene products. This would remove the need for such items to be placed in refuse sacks, so we will be looking at ways in which this could be introduced across the county borough as well. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The majority of respondents were opposed to proposals for prohibiting black bags at civic amenity sites, so we will look at options that will allow black bag waste to continue to be accepted once recyclable items have been removed instead. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“We’ll also be looking at issues such as assisted collections, collections at addresses with multiple occupants and more.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Council Leader Mel Nott OBE added: “How waste and recycling is dealt with is a divisive issue as everyone has a different method that they prefer. What the council has to do is to find a way of taking all of the feedback into account and finding some common ground that is both affordable and realistic. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to hit the new targets as there are fixed penalties of £200 for every excess tonne that goes to landfill. In other words, missing the target by just one per cent would mean local taxpayers would face a penalty of up to £150,000. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Work will now be carried out on developing the new scheme for tender ahead of a planned launch in April 2017, and we’ll be issuing further information about what householders can expect to see as part of this.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​