Bridgend consulting on monthly bin collection

Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) is considering taking up monthly residual waste collections in a bid to boost its recycling rate.

The council has this week launched a public consultation to survey residents on options for its waste service when its current waste contract with waste management company Kier expires in April 2017.

The current contract sees Kier provide domestic refuse and recycling collection, operate three household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and carry out other waste services including commercial waste collection. In the consultation document, BCBC states that it spends around £10 million every year to run its waste services, around £5 million of which is spent solely on waste disposal and processing.

In preparation for the end of the contract, the council has put forward a number of proposals designed to help the authority meet the Welsh Government’s target of 70 per cent recycling by 2024/25, and avoid the resulting fines if targets are not met.

Should it decide to undertake a monthly bin collection in 2017, it would become the first Welsh authority to do so, though Torfaen and Cardiff have both considered the move. To date, only Fife in Scotland and Banbridge in Northern Ireland have implemented four-week collections on a trial basis. Fife introduced the pilot system to 2,000 homes in September, while Banbridge decided not to follow up its trial of the system in February despite an increase in recycling and fall in residual waste generation.  

The consultation, which began on Monday (14 December), will run until 8 February. A report will then be published and presented to the council’s cabinet in March.

Proposals

The main proposal surrounds how the council would collect residual household waste, with three options suggested to residents. These are fortnightly collections with a two-bag limit, three-weekly collections with a three-bag limit, or four-weekly collections with unlimited black bag collection.

Recycling, which takes the form of a three-container system in line with the Welsh Government’s Collections Blueprint, would continue to be collected every week, with the reduced frequency and limited size of residual waste designed to encourage increased use of the recycling service. 

Gwynedd and Blaenau Gwent councils have previously introduced three-weekly collection for residual waste in Wales, while a number of local authorities (LAs), including Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf, have introduced restrictions to the amount of residual waste that will be taken during each collection

Each of these councils, BCBC states, has experienced increased recycling rates since the changes were made. In addition, by limiting collection of black residual waste bags, the council hopes to save money on the cost of disposal and processing.

A nappy and absorbent hygiene product recycling service would also be introduced to coincide with the reduced frequency.

Changes to HWRCs are also being considered by the council to require users to sort general waste bags so that any recyclable material is removed. Under the changes some HWRCs may be selected not to take general waste at all. This, the consultation document highlights, has been implemented in Rhondda Cynon Taf, where recycling levels at HWRCs now exceed 90 per cent.

The council hopes that responses to the consultation will address the challenge of how to manage a reduced collection in homes where wheelie bins are unfeasible and how to limit residual waste in areas with communal collection.

Welsh recycling targets

As part of the government’s Towards Zero Waste strategy, several statutory recycling targets (SRTs) have been set out in the lead-up to the overall 2025 goal. Bridgend met the most recent target of 52 per cent in 2012/13, registering a recycling rate of 57 per cent.

The next SRT is set for the end of the current reporting year, 2015/16, when Welsh local authorities are expected to recycle 58 per cent of their household waste. This is then followed with a 64 per cent target for 2019/20.

Should these targets not be met, BCBC says, it faces fines of £200 for every tonne not recycled. The consultation document concludes: ‘This means that if we were to miss these statutory targets by just one per cent the council could face a fine of around £100,000.’

‘Tough decisions need to be made’

Commenting on the proposals, Councillor Hywel Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “As a county borough, we have always performed really well when it comes to recycling… but the statutory targets are getting higher and more demanding, and in its current form the kerbside collection scheme will not be enough to meet them unless we make some changes.

“Many local authorities in Wales have already made changes to their recycling and refuse collections in preparation for this as areas that do not meet the new targets will be subject to severe financial penalties. For example, missing the 64 per cent target by just one per cent will mean that Bridgend County Borough will be issued with a penalty of around £100,000, which will have to be paid for by local taxpayers.

“The more we miss the target by, the more we will have to pay, so the only way in which we are going to be able to avoid huge fines is by changing the way in which we collect refuse, increasing how much we recycle and cutting back on the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.”

Council Leader Mel Nott added: “A great deal of work has been carried out to look at the current system and like a lot of local authorities, it is clear that our biggest problem lies with black bags. There’s no question that our black bag collection needs to adapt in order to ensure we can meet the Welsh Government targets and avoid costly fines, so we want to consult with our residents to find out how we can achieve this.

“We understand that changing how black bags are collected may not be popular, but unfortunately this is an issue that cannot be ignored and tough decisions need to be made.”

More information on the consultation into Bridgend’s waste service can be found at the council’s website.