Gwynedd to extend three-weekly collections

By Nick Watts | 28 May 2015 | Add a Comment

Gwynedd Council is extending its three-weekly waste collection service –which has been operating in the Dwyfor area since last October – to residents in Meirionnydd next week, and to those in Arfon ‘by the end of November’.

From the 1 June, residents of the Meirionnyd area of Gwynedd will have their non-recyclable waste collected once every three weeks instead of once a fortnight. This will then be rolled out to those living in Arfon in autumn.

Recyclable products and food waste will continue to be collected weekly. Residents that have not yet received the stackable recycling bins, known locally as ‘Cartgylchu’ (pictured above), will also receive theirs imminently, along with further information on the new waste collection service.

According to the council, those in the Dwyfor region that have been using the Cartgylchu have reduced their residual waste arisings by an average of 22 per cent. The amount of recyclable materials collected from the area also reportedly increased from 225 to 271 tonnes following the roll-out of the new scheme.

Changes could save £414,000 a year

It is hoped that the reduced number of collections will save the council up to £414,000 a year once fully rolled out, and help the authority meet the Welsh Government’s target of recycling or composting 58 per cent of household waste by March 2016 (the council recycled 55 per cent of its waste in 2014). If these statutory targets are not met, local authorities could have to pay £200 for every tonne under the threshold.

Councilor John Wynn Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, commented: “Our focus is on encouraging people to recycle and compost as much of their waste as possible so that less and less waste is sent to be buried in landfill sites. The council is charged for every tonne of rubbish sent to landfill and risk a penalty fine if we don’t meet our recycling targets.”

He also thanked the people of Dwyfor for their commitment to the new waste collection arrangements, and said he was “confident that people living in Meirionnyd will embrace the changes in the same positive manner”.

People living in Meirionnydd who are unsure of the changes can contact the Council’s Recycling Helpdesk with their questions on 01766 771000 or [email protected]

Gwynedd is one of three UK councils that has reduced the frequency of its residual waste collections in a bid to boost recycling rates and save money. Falkirk and Bury councils switched to three-weekly collections last year and has reportedly helped Bury council save £800,000 a year in disposal costs.