Wanted For Recycling: The ‘Unusual Suspects’

This Recycle Week (12-18 September), Bridgend County Borough residents are being asked to hunt down the ‘unusual suspects’ – items that are often forgotten when recycling at home. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Many of the most overlooked items can be found in the bathroom, such as toilet roll tubes and toothpaste boxes which can both be recycled with the rest of your cardboard, and the empty shampoo, bleach and shower gel bottles that can all go in your blue bag for plastics. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councillor Ceri Reeves, the council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “Most of us are used to recycling the food waste, bottles, packaging and other items that accumulate in the kitchen, but it can sometimes feel easier to throw bathroom items straight in the bin rather than putting them to one side for recycling. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“This Recycle Week, we’d like to ask residents to consider everything that they are throwing out at home and make sure that any ‘unusual suspects’ are recycled too.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Other recyclable ‘unusual suspects’ include hand soap dispensers, medicine bottles, and empty cardboard boxes from medication such as headache tablets. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Local residents are also reminded that there is still time to take part in council’s public consultation over whether larger households should be given extra allowances when changes to household waste collections are brought in next year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

From 1 April 2017, homes in Bridgend County Borough will be restricted to throwing out a maximum of two black bags per fortnight so that the local authority can continue to achieve stringent recycling targets that have been set by Welsh Government. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By 2024/25, Welsh councils will need to recycling 70 per cent of all household waste or face costly fines. The current target is 58 per cent. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The two bag restriction will affect most homes from April onwards, but the council is considering what dispensation should be given to households with more than six occupants so that the new collection service can help to increase recycling rates while also being as fair as possible. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A new separate nappy collection service will also be introduced from 1 April 2017. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​