Welsh council could face fines for missing recycling target

Anthony Lewis, Local democracy reporter

A Welsh council missed the 70% recycling target last year which means the council could face a £192,000 fine.

Figures recently confirmed for 2024/2025 by Welsh Government show Merthyr Tydfil was one of 10 councils not to meet the target along with Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Torfaen, and Wrexham.

The recycling rate for Merthyr Tydfil in 2024/2025 has been confirmed as being 66.3% compared to the Welsh average of 68.4% and, although this was an increase of 2.04% on the previous financial year, it fell short of the target by 3.7%.

A council report said that this means possible financial penalties being issued by Welsh Government to the authority of around £192,270.

It also said that the latest information shows that there is still 52% of recyclable material being placed in refuse bins in Merthyr Tydfil.

Figures in the report show there was a major improvement during 2019/20 when recyclable material tonnages at the kerbside and the household recycling centres increased significantly with the most probable reason for this being the pandemic when residents stayed at home more and carried out home improvements and garden renovations.

This level was sustained for the next couple of years before decreasing in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

And in 2024/25, it’s been confirmed that Merthyr Tydfil saw recycling rates climb to 66.33% which is an increase of 2.04% on the previous years.

This is thought to be because of the trade waste acceptance scheme the council has introduced along with other promotional events throughout the county borough.

These include the doorstep campaign to increase food waste participation from residents and arranging school visits to the household recycling centres and the waste transfer station so that young adults can see first hand what happens to their waste when it is recycled correctly.

The figures show there was an approximate increase of 1,728 tonnes of recyclable materials collected for 2024/25 when compared to 2023/24.

There was an increase of around 237 tonnes of garden waste collected and an additional 168 tonnes of food waste recycled.

Although residual waste (refuse) tonnages are positively decreasing towards contracted amounts, Merthyr Tydfil was still producing 1,000 tonnes more for 2024/25 than required to meet those contract levels.

In this current year, the council needs to collect 1,000 tonnes less than last year to meet the contract tonnages which means the council needs to reduce residual waste by 35kg per household per year to achieve this target.

When comparing quarters one and two this year to the previous year, the council has seen a positive increase in total recycling tonnages by 441.26 tonnes.

This has been complimented also by slightly reducing the total residual waste collected for the same period by 157.81 tonnes.

For quarters one and two in 2025/26, recycling performance has decreased slightly by 0.32% when compared to the same quarters in 2024/2025 and the report said this is mainly down to the reduction in tonnages of green waste collected on the kerbside along with materials like wood and carpets only claiming 20% recycling as opposed to 80% from the year previous.

The number of enforcement actions taken each year has continued to increase with more letters having been issued in the past six months than in 12 months in previous financial years.

During 2025, a new waste strategy was developed in partnership with WRAP and local partnerships and was approved by full council in December.

The report said this should help the authority in trying to achieve the 70% Welsh Government target.

The council has been working closely with its partners WRAP and local partnerships to identify how it can improve its recycling performance.

The most up to date information shows there is still approximately 52% of recyclable materials placed into the refuse wheelie bins at the kerbside.

The report said the council needs to recycle as much of that 52% as possible if it is to achieve the Welsh Governments target of 70% and work towards zero waste, which needs to be achieved by 2050.

A percentage of this 52% is absorbent hygiene products and plastic film and future plans to collect these materials separately for recycling have been set out in the new waste strategy.

Working alongside WRAP and Local partnerships a kerbside analysis tool report was produced in 2023, with costs updated in December 2025, to outline the feasibility of collecting these materials separately at the kerbside and the potential recycling percentage uplift this would give.

For plastic film the expected tonnage is 200 tonnes with a 0.5-1% recycling performance increase and an extra annual cost including haulage of £231,878.

For absorbent hygiene products the expected tonnage is 565 tonnes with a 1-1.5% recycling performance increase and an extra annual cost including haulage of £269,610.

For plastic film and absorbent hygiene products combined, the expected tonnage is 765 tonnes with a 1.5-2.5% recycling performance increase and an extra annual cost including haulage of £501,488.

A council spokesperson said: “We have made an improvement on last year figures and are working closely with Welsh Government and WRAP Cymru to achieve the 70% target.

“We are aware of potential fines for authorities.”