Boost for £54m project to improve council’s low recycling rates

The Welsh Government has indicated “in principle” it could help fund some investment in Caerphilly County Borough Council’s recycling strategy.

The council has lagged behind national recycling targets and must make improvements or run the risk of multimillion-pound fines.

It has proposed buying a site in the “mid-valley” region and creating a new depot there, which it believes will help improve its capacity to deal with the county borough’s waste.

However, that new depot, combined with proposals to replace some of its waste and recycling vehicles, will cost an estimated £54 million.

The council has said previously it hoped the Welsh Government would help cover more than half those costs – and today (Monday December 16), those hopes have been given a boost.

The Welsh Government said Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies, the climate change secretary, has “agreed to indicate in-principle support of up to circa 58% of the eligible capital cost” for the project.

That funding, if approved, will be subject to a cap of £27.6 million.

The Welsh Government has also indicated it could give the council up to £952,000 “to make a deposit securing the site” of the proposed new waste depot “and prepare for the purchase”.

The proposed support may also include around £2.4 million towards the cost of new low-emission vehicles for the council’s fleet, although this sum could change “depending on the final number of vehicles bought”. 

Even with the possibility of government support, the council will still need to spend millions of pounds on the project.

Councillors agreed in October to borrow £24.8 million to cover the remaining anticipated cost of the depot and fleet improvements, despite some concerns from opposition members.

The Welsh Government will increase its minimum recycling rate target to 70% in the spring, yet the most recent figures available – for the 12 months to March 2024 – show Caerphilly was recycling 60.2% of its waste, the second-lowest rate in Wales.

The council has estimated it could face hefty annual fines if it fails to improve its performance, and to avoid those costly punishments, it has produced a new waste strategy.

Several “quick wins” unveiled in 2023 will each drive up the council’s recycling rate by around 1%-1.5%, it is hoped, and a trial scheme for free food caddy liners was so successful the council decided to continue the policy.

Cllr Chris Morgan, the council’s cabinet member for waste, said at the time that food waste made up nearly a third of the contents of bin bags collected in Caerphilly.

“If we could get all of this into the food waste caddy, it would have a huge effect on our recycling rates and the environment,” he said.

Free indoor food waste caddy liners can be ordered on the council’s website, or collected from libraries and leisure centres, as well as Bedwas Council Offices, Penallta House, Machen rugby club, Blackwood Town Council offices, and Penallta Reuse Shop.