Waste and Recycling Changes Q&A with Cllr Geoff Cox

The Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member responsible for waste collections has spoken exclusively the Barry and District News and Penarth Times to explain the thinking behind changes to waste and recycling in the Vale agreed this week.

What is the proposed change to waste collections?

This week I recommended a move to separated weekly dry recycling collections, whereby residents separate their paper, plastic and glass into separate containers before it is collected.

Residents will be provided with four containers; one for metals and plastics, one for paper, one for cardboard and another for glass. 

There will be no change to food or garden waste collections.

However, like many other Councils in Wales, I am now proposing a two bag limit in the Vale for black bags; in an effort to encourage increased recycling.

The full details of the new process will be decided following a consultation with residents later this year but there will be concessions offered for large families and those with specific waste demands, such as a requirement to dispose of sanitary products.

Why are you proposing these changes?

I fully appreciate that what is being suggested is a major service change that will affect every resident in the Vale. However, I believe this is a necessary change, just as was the case back in 2011 when we last made major changes to collections.

Back then our recycling performance needed a boost to get the Vale from 40% to 52% by 2012/13. Thanks to the considerable efforts of our residents we exceeded the 52% target and are now recycling 64% of all domestic waste. In 2015/16 the Vale of Glamorgan had the second highest recycling figures in Wales, proving that the change was right decision at that time.

Things, however, have changed.

In 2011 we advised that the recycling and waste collection arrangements would have to be kept under review to ensure that they remained sustainable, meeting Welsh Government objectives and the National Waste Strategy.

Then in January 2015 legislation came into force requiring local authorities to set up separate collections of waste where technically, environmentally and economically practicable. With our current contract for the transfer and disposal of recyclable waste coming to an end in March, we must now make changes to bring us in line with this law.

The Vale is also no longer in the top ten in Wales for recycling rates as our performance has now plateaued. Local authorities in Wales are now fined for not meeting Welsh Government targets and we cannot risk the financial penalty of failing to significantly increase recycling rates over the next few years.

What happens to the recycling that is collected from people’s homes?

The green boxes and blue bags that are collected from residents’ homes are currently transported to a processing facility in Leicester where the material is sorted and sold on for re-use. This is another important consideration in the move to separated material collections. 

Since 2011 we have also been closely monitoring the fluctuations in the global market price for recyclable material. We always knew one of the drawbacks with mixed collections was that the value of what is collected is generally less than that of material that has been separated at source, due to the potential for cross contamination.

We no longer receive an income for the recyclables that we collect due to the cost of travel and the diminishing global market. The value of mixed recycling keeps falling and is likely to continue to do so, therefore the move to separated collections will help us generate much needed income at a time of ever reducing budgets.

As well as the value of the material falling, the significant distance that the waste is transferred is also no longer sustainable, either financially or from an environmental perspective.  For this reason it is our intention to build a waste transfer station here in the Vale of Glamorgan, subject to receiving a grant from Welsh Government to help pay for this.

How and when will the proposed changes be implemented?

The changes will be subject to public consultation prior to implementation and this will give all residents a chance to shape how the proposals are implemented. Our current plan is to roll the new scheme out from September.

We already know there will be issues around collections for larger families and people living in flats and apartments that need to be considered.

There is no one-size fits all solution to rolling out these changes and so we need to hear from as many residents as possible to help us understand where concessions and exceptions to the rule are required. As soon as plans for the consultation are in place we will let residents know.

How much will it cost to implement the changes and who will pay for this?

Obviously there will be costs to implementing these changes but one of the advantages of a separated collection scheme is that it will qualify the Vale Council for additional Welsh Government funding. Such funding is not available to us unless we align our services with current National Waste Policy.

This funding will be used to help cover the cost of changing our collection vehicles and building the new waste transfer station, most likely on land that the Council already owns on the Atlantic Trading Estate in Barry.

The transport savings and increased income from the sale of recycled material will deliver savings to the Council of around £400,000 each year.