Recycling boost sees council’s £500k waste fines scrapped

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Waste fines totalling more than £540,000 have been scrapped by the Welsh Government after a county council improved its recycling performance.

Infraction charges of £356,279 and £184,340 were imposed in 2023 and 2024 by the Senedd after Flintshire County Council missed national recycling targets.

They were on top of a £663,000 waste charge for 2022.

The initial fine was written off when the authority committted to three-weekly black bin collections in April 2025.

This was supported by other service changes including a new ‘visible waste’ process at Household Recycling Centres and ongoing work to raise awareness of recycling.

Now the remaining charges – totalling £540,619 – have been erased after initial figures indicate Flintshire has achieved the target 70% recycling rate expected of all Welsh local authorities – increased from 63% in 2025.

The removal of three historic fines is a positive sign and removes a significant cost risk from the stretched finances of Flintshire County Council.

While there remains a question mark about the 2025 infraction charge – Flintshire technically missed its target and is awaiting news on a potential £960,000 fine – the authority is now confident that too will be waived.

“We are pleased that the significant progress made in our recycling performance across Flintshire has been recognised by Welsh Government through removal of these fines,” said Flintshire’s Chief Officer for Streetscene and Transportation Katie Wilby.

“Our focus has been on delivering meaningful, long-term change to move Flintshire towards a more circular economy. While there is still work to do, these results demonstrate the positive impact of the changes we have made and the efforts of our communities and we would like to thank residents for their ongoing support.”