Caerphilly Observer
Member Sign in Manage Membership
Become a Member - no ads
Menu
  • News
    • Senedd
    • Business
    • Newport
    • Opinion
  • Sport
    • Rugby union
    • Football
  • Membership & Subscriptions
  • Notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Sponsored Content
Menu

Council facing £24m bill for plans to improve recycling rates

News | Nicholas Thomas - Local Democracy Reporting Service | Published: 12:18, Tuesday July 9th, 2024.
Last updated: 12:18, Tuesday July 9th, 2024

Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

Caerphilly wheelie bins
Caerphilly Council faces Welsh Government fines due to its recycling rates

Sweeping changes to waste and recycling collections in Caerphilly County Borough could require millions of pounds of borrowing, and prove significantly costlier than fines for non-compliance.

Caerphilly currently has the worst recycling performance in Wales, and the council has around £2.7 million in Welsh Government fines hanging over its head unless it improves.

Three- or four-weekly bin collections, a new system for separating recyclables at home, and closing some of the borough’s tips are all being considered as ways to drive up local recycling rates.

These policies could come at an enormous cost, however, with one senior Caerphilly County Borough Council officer admitting “we haven’t got the infrastructure” to deal with the scale of change and a “blueprint-compliant collection service” for the area’s waste.

There are plans to build a new waste management hub at a “mid-Valleys” site, the location of which remains a closely-guarded secret amid “tentative” negotiations with the landowner.

If a deal is struck, initial hopes to refurbish the existing building there have been dashed over access and size issues, meaning the council will instead construct a “fit-for-purpose” replacement, sending the overall capital spending on the council’s new waste strategy to nearly £54m.

Council records lowest recycling performance in Wales

It is hoped the Welsh Government will cover most of that sum, but the recycling revolution is still expected to set the council back more than £24m, including the costs of replacing its bin collection lorries – and the council “would either need to reprioritise existing commitments or undertake borrowing” to fund its plans.

That figure doesn’t take into account the operational costs for the new waste strategy.

This would fall solely on the council, with an estimated revenue gap of £1.2m annually until 2030, and then £0.5m a year after that.

If the council does decide to borrow money to fund the capital spending, it forecasts this would mean paying back an additional £1.9m a year until the loan is repaid.

Jarringly, the spending that is required to avoid the government’s recycling fines dwarfs the amount the council would actually be fined.

The council estimates it is currently threatened with £2.7m in fines for non-compliance, up to this year, and fines are “forecast” to be an extra £1.3m from next year onwards, based on Caerphilly’s current performance.

Residents doubtful cuts to bin collections will improve recycling rates

But at a meeting of Caerphilly Council’s joint scrutiny committee, on Monday July 8, engagement manager Hayley Lancaster told councillors “doing nothing is not an option”.

The council believes the new waste strategy will give it the best chance of meeting its own environmental targets, as well as those set nationally – even if the changes come at a significant initial cost.

At the meeting, however, there was some disagreement over some of the proposed changes for residents.

Cllr Carl Cuss was one of several members who criticised a proposal to close a tip in Rhymney, while Cllr Lindsay Whittle said several extra recycling bags and boxes could be an issue for people living in terraced homes.

Cllr Shane Williams went further, suggesting people with health or mobility problems may struggle with the additional containers, while Cllr Gary Johnston said he was concerned a more complicated system would “make it harder for people to recycle”.

Senior officers noted the committee’s comments and will take the feedback to Caerphilly Council’s cabinet members, ahead of a decision on the new waste strategy at the end of July.


Sign-up to our daily newsletter


Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts.

Become a member today

LDRS

Latest News

  • Wattsville Community Sports Field and Pavilion, pictured in June 2025
    Council hands over sports fields and pavilion to community groupTuesday, September 30, 2025
  • No joy for gymnastics academy’s expansion planTuesday, September 30, 2025
  • Vega House is the tallest apartment block at Celestia in Cardiff Bay
    New building safety law could make flats unsellable, lenders warnTuesday, September 30, 2025
  • S4C's headquarters in Carmarthen
    Westminster rejects calls for Senedd to have say on S4C chairTuesday, September 30, 2025
  • Aaron Ramsey has joined Mexican side Pumas UNAM
    Ramsey and Lawlor in Wales squad for England and Belgium match-upsTuesday, September 30, 2025
  • Is immigration really an issue for the Caerphilly Senedd by-election?Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Find out how the communities of Caerphilly County Borough get their names

Caerphilly

Legal & Public Notices

  • Notice of application for a premises licence: Hanbury Road, BargoedThursday, September 25, 2025
  • Notice of application for a variation of a premises licence: Pontygwindy Industrial EstateThursday, September 18, 2025
  • Caerphilly County Borough Council public noticesThursday, September 18, 2025
  • Caerphilly County Borough Council public noticesThursday, September 4, 2025
© 2009-2024 Caerphilly Media Ltd, Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community Watford Road Caerphilly, CF83 1BJ. Incorporated in Wales No. 07604006.