New recycling law comes into force in Wales next weekend
Businesses in Wales are preparing for the introduction of a new workplace recycling law next weekend.
From 6 April, all workplaces in Wales will have to separate their waste for recycling and arrange for it to be collected separately.
The new law is being brought in to improve the quality and quantity of recycling in Wales to help address the climate and nature emergency.
Recycled materials
The Welsh Government says the new legislation will also benefit the economy by capturing a “resilient supply of high-quality recycled materials” that can be used by manufacturing industries across Wales and beyond.
From Saturday businesses will need to separate food (if they produce more than 5kg of food waste per week), glass; paper and cardboard; and metals, plastics, and cartons; as well as unsold textiles and unsold small electricals and arrange for it to be collected separately.
Over the last 20 years, Wales has gone from recycling less than 5% to recycling 65% of its waste and is now ranked third in the world for household waste recycling.
This helps to save around 400,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year. The new law will help to continue to increase recycling rates while supporting the government’s commitment to making Wales become a zero-waste nation by 2050.
Concerns
Linda Breen, a sales Assistant at the Canton Fruit Market said, “We did have some concerns initially about making the changes, but we quickly learned that change can be a good thing.
“All our waste used to just go into one big bin out the back of the premises, but due to its size, it was not collected very frequently, and it took up a lot of space.
“Now we are finding that our recyclable waste is being collected twice a week, and the smaller bins take up a lot less space. We are also producing much less general waste, so we are saving money. It has also made us think much more about our recycling and other ways we can reduce our overall waste.”
For more information on the new law visit https://www.gov.wales/workplacerecycling.
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It’s depressing that just 65% makes us 3rd – let’s do even better and put the rest of the world to shame
One weekend to go, and if you ring Caerphilly Council, they’ll tell you they’re not ready for it.
Sadly i think these numbers are rubbish excuse the pun . All smoke and mirrors . Everyday Cardiff council paying to reduce its numbers by dumping its rubbish in Pembrokeshire withyhedge site causing a right stink. This continues 50 lorrys a day after a certain 200k political donation to our new first minister political campaign by Mr Neals firm.
Then you got Pembrokeshire paying to dump its rubbish in other countries too to reach these figures.
This is happening all across the UK. Recycling is councils “hiding” their rubbish to hit targets and nothing more.
They’re only just doing this now !!!
Could someone please explain why some councils will accept all plastics with the recycle logo on and some won’t? Until recently I lived in the Rhondda and any and all recyclables were accepted. I’ve moved to Caerphilly and the rules are very different. Caerphilly have a different rule set and won’t accept many plastics, including some with the recycling logo clearly printed on them. As well as this, not all recycling centres accept all rubbish. Surely it’d be far better for the environment if all councils had one set of rules, printed in clear English and Welsh and delivered to… Read more »