Council restricts waste collection to three black bags every three weeks

Bruce Sinclair, local democracy reporter

A local authority will limit ‘black bag’ waste collections to just three bags every three weeks from April.

Ceredigion County Council have announced the changes, which were “designed to help incentivise residents to recycle more of their waste and help the county increase its recycling further.”

Residents will also be unable to take unsorted ‘black bags’ to any of the county’s Household Waste Sites.

Necessary changes

A statement from Ceredigion County Council says that despite being one of the highest performing local authorities for recycling for several years, changes still need to be made.

Increasing Welsh Government recycling targets, and the pressure to reduce costs, mean that changes need be made to increase recycling further.

Councillor Keith Henson, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Carbon Management said: “Despite the fantastic progress we’ve made over the years, through the recycling efforts by Ceredigion residents, there is still over half of the waste in ‘black bags’ collected in Ceredigion that could have been recycled.”

He noted: “This is a waste of natural resources and a cost to us all as residents.”

Non-recyclable waste collection changes were part of an extensive list of 70 cost savings for the 2024 budget, the change listed as a potential £25,000 saving.

‘Unsorted’ waste

“No unsorted waste” policies are also in place, which means residents wanting to take residual waste into a household waste site are asked to sort through their waste and recycle anything that’s recyclable.

The council stated: “This is being implemented at the site on the Glanyrafon Industrial Estate, Aberystwyth from January 20. Residents are advised to sort their waste at home before they visit any of Ceredigion’s Household Waste Sites.”

Ceredigion is calling on more residents to use its weekly separate food waste collection service which already collects around 3,400 tonnes of food waste each year.

The food waste is recycled to produce fertiliser and renewable energy.

The council is focusing on trying to capture some 1,500 tonnes of food waste believed to end up in residents’ black bags annually.

Cllr Henson said: “Change is never easy. I know that we all care about Ceredigion, and I know that our residents will understand the need for change. Reduce, reuse and recycle.”