Decision day looms for plan to cut bin collections

A decision on cuts to bin rounds in Caerphilly County Borough is expected in the coming days.

The council has proposed reducing its collections of non-recyclable waste from a fortnightly to a three-weekly service.

“Caerphilly is currently underperforming against statutory recycling targets and faces potential backdated fines of approximately £3.728 million,” it warned in a new report. “Although [a Welsh Government] minister previously chose not to impose fines for 2020/21, this decision was based on the expectation that clear and decisive actions would be taken to meet future statutory requirements.”

Local authorities currently have to recycle 70% of the waste they collect, but in recent years Caerphilly County Borough Council has lagged behind government targets and scored among the worst-performing areas of Wales.

The council’s ongoing waste strategy sets out a series of immediate and longer-term measures to drive up the borough’s recycling rates.

Among the latest initiatives is the proposal to cut collections of “residual waste”, after researchers found around 59% of the contents of a typical bin in Caerphilly could instead be recycled.

A typical borough household also produces an average of 410kg of residual waste annually, which is much higher than the Welsh average 360kg.

The council believes reducing the frequency of bin collections will encourage people to think more about what they are throwing away and be encouraged to recycle items instead.

An additional proposal is to introduce a “kerbside sorting” system for recyclables, in which residents would separate materials such as plastics, cardboard and paper at home before the council collects them.

Together with the measures already introduced, the council believes these two proposals could result in an 11% improvement in its recycling rates, finally lifting the borough above the government’s 70% target.

Year-round garden waste collections could also be limited to running between March and November, and the council has also proposed a new service for picking up nappies and other absorbent hygiene products.

Cabinet members are expected to discuss the proposals at a meeting on Wednesday July 23.

If the measures are approved, they are expected to come into effect sometime from “late 2027 to early 2028”.