Cuts to black bin collections ruled out

A council leader has confirmed there are no plans to reduce the frequency of black bin collections this year, the leader of the council has revealed.

It follows claims there is “no appetite” among politicians and members of the public for general waste to be collected once every three weeks.

Officials from Wrexham Council had suggested a switch from the current fortnightly collection service in a bid to improve recycling rates.

Objections

However, members of a backbench scrutiny committee raised strong objections at a meeting last month after claiming it would lead to more rubbish being dumped in the streets.

Council leader Mark Pritchard has now said no changes will be made to the frequency of collections during the current financial year in light of the opposition.

It also comes after the introduction of waste service changes in Denbighshire led to missed rubbish collections and the local authority incurring extra costs.

Speaking at a media briefing held today (Tuesday, 1 October), the independent group leader said: “I’m really pleased that the right recommendation has come from scrutiny at this moment in time.

“It would have been the wrong thing to do to try and push through three weekly bin collections when there isn’t the appetite for change.

“I don’t think there’s a radical change required here. Elected members have been spooked by what’s happened at other authorities.

“Whatever you do with waste, you have to have the people of Wrexham on your side.”

Slumped

Wrexham was once one of the best performing local authorities in Wales for recycling, but slumped to the third-worst in the country during 2023/24.

The area’s recycling rate for the last financial year stood at 63.8 per cent, just below the Welsh Government’s previous target of 64.

The goal for this year has increased to 70 per cent and council officials have warned the authority could be heavily fined unless steps are taken to improve the figure.

But councillors expressed their preference for an increased focus on educating residents how to recycle instead of reducing the frequency of collections.

Cllr Pritchard added: “We were very high up in the recycling league table, but we’ve slipped back, and we have to go again.

“I do understand that officers are restricted with their budgets, but we have to think outside the box and do more to educate people.”