Two Welsh Councils could face fines after falling short of recycling targets

Alec Doyle, Local democracy reporter

Two north Wales counties missed their recycling targets last year, leaving both facing potential infraction charges from Welsh Government.

Flintshire and Wrexham are among 10 Welsh councils that missed the Welsh Government’s waste recycling target after it was increased from 63% to 70% in 2024/25.

Flintshire fell 6.9% short of the national benchmark while Wrexham was 4.9% down.

Last year Flintshire generated approximately 74,000 tonnes of waste. Of that around 47,000 tonnes was recycled.

Wrexham produced just over 75,000 tonnes of residual waste, recycling around 49,000 tonnes.

It means that both authorities could see fines imposed by Welsh Government. At a current rate of £200 per tonne that would see Wrexham facing a potential charge of £750,000 while Flintshire could receive a charge of £960,000.

Flintshire already has infraction charges for 2023/24 and 2022/23 totalling £1.2 million which have currently been suspended while the Welsh Government reviews whether the authority’s switch to three-weekly black bin collections has brought it into line.

The data was released by Welsh Government this week as it praised the 12 authorities who had met the requirements. Of those who did not, five were in the north – Flintshire, Wrexham, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey.

But Flintshire County Council’s Chief Officer for Streetscene and Transportation Katie Wilby said that current data showed that three-weekly collections had been effective so far.

“We acknowledge that Flintshire’s recycling performance has fallen short of Welsh Government targets for the last few years,” she said.

“The council has a clear plan in place to improve recycling rates and reduce waste, as set out in our Resource and Waste Strategy for 2024-2030.

“Some of the practical measures introduced so far include the move to three-weekly black bin collections in April 2025, a new ‘visible waste’ process at our Household Recycling Centres and ongoing work to raise awareness of the importance of recycling.

“These changes are already having a significant impact on our recycling performance, and we have achieved a rate of 70% – in line with the statutory target – for the first two quarters of 2025/26, suggesting we are on track to meet the target this year.”

Should Flintshire meet its target as predicted, it would have a strong case to ask Welsh Government to dismiss all infraction charges. Last year it successfully negotiated the dismissal of a £663,000 infraction charge from 2021/22 after introducing three-weekly collections.

Wales is currently ranked second in the world for recycling, leading the way in the UK and just behind Austria in the global rankings published by Eunomia Research and Consulting and Reloop in 2024.

Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies said: “Recycling is now a part of who we are as a nation.

“We’ve backed our commitment with over £1bn of investment since devolution which has seen recycling rates increase exponentially ever since.

“I’m proud of every person in Wales who has played their part in getting us to where we are today. Thank you for joining this collective effort.

“Our recycling track record is something to be proud of as we continue taking action to tackle the climate and nature emergency and grow the green economy.

“But let’s not be complacent. Being number one in the world for recycling is within our grasp if we keep up the momentum.”

Regarding those authorities which were still not reaching the required recycling rate, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We have a longstanding comprehensive programme of support in place which has successfully supported our local authorities to make improvements to Wales’ recycling performance.

“The achievability of the new 70% target is demonstrated by the fact that more than half (55%) of councils have met or gone above it in the first year, with 90% having improved their recycling performance.

“In situations where an authority does not meet the statutory target, there is a well-established process in place that operates on a case-by-case basis to assess whether a fine should be applied.”

Wrexham Council was approached for comment.