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Caerphilly County Borough Council has warned drastic changes are needed in order for the borough to meet Welsh Government recycling targets.

As it stands, Caerphilly County Borough recycles 60% of its waste, 10% short of the “strict” Welsh Government target of 70%, which must be met.

The council has outlined a seven-year plan to ensure Caerphilly “meets and exceeds statutory performance targets”.

The plan highlights a number of ‘pillar projects’ which have been identified as immediate interventions, anticipated to increase recycling performance.

These include a pre-sort requirement, a campaign to change behaviour when it comes to recycling and a 12-month trial of free food bin liners.

The council currently offer a free weekly dry recycling and organic recycling collection service for all residents, however, analysis performed by WRAP Cymru indicates that approximately 50% of Caerphilly’s general waste contains recyclable materials – including 9,000 tonnes of food waste.

Dry recycling includes materials such as cardboard, metal cans, and plastics. Organic recycling includes food waste.

Leader of the council, Cllr Sean Morgan, said: “We appreciate that many residents are already working with us every week to recycle as much as possible, but more needs to be done, which is why communication with our residents will be at the forefront of this route map.

“While our dry recycling participation rate is high, unfortunately, contamination of both recycling bins and residual bins, along with lack of participation of organic recycling is negatively affecting our overall recycling rates.”

Cllr Sean Morgan continued: “Over the coming months residents can expect to receive resources explaining how to recycle effectively and why participation is so important.”

More details on how to recycle can be found here, with public consultation on the project set to be carried out early next year.