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Caerphilly Council is yet to secure a deal for trade waste collections, despite Wales’ new workplace recycling rules coming into force in April.

Cabinet members agreed at the end of March to pursue a short-term contract with a private sector contractor.

The council is unable to deal with the expected rise in demand for collections after the Welsh Government tightened rules for trade waste, compelling firms to separate recyclable materials.

At March’s cabinet meeting, Chris Morgan, the cabinet member for waste, warned colleagues the council’s capacity limitations meant “our current method of collecting mixed dry recyclables will not be compliant with the new law”.

But attempts to find a contractor for that work are ongoing, two months later.

A spokesman for the local authority said on Friday May 24 the council is “currently undergoing an established procurement process to award a contract for a recycling collection service for our trade waste customers”.

That deal is likely to be completed “in the coming months”, he added.

Businesses in Caerphilly County Borough are free to strike their own recycling collection deals with private companies, but the council must agree to take waste from any trader who requests it to.

The council believes that a three-year arrangement with a contractor will give it time to increase its own recycling capacity, meaning it can take over commercial recycling collections at the end of that fixed-term deal.

“In the meantime, the council’s waste team is undertaking this work, and all current trade waste customers are being communicated with directly in relation to any upcoming changes,” the council spokesman said, adding: “The CCBC trade waste service is a chargeable service, offered to all businesses within the county borough, and this charge offsets all costs for the collection service.”