Significant changes to recycling and black bag collections in Carmarthenshire have come into effect this week. The new approach came into effect on Monday January 23 and sees an increase in the number of recycling collections carried out across the county.
As opposed to blue bags being collected once a fortnight, they will now be collected from outside people’s homes once a week, alongside the green bin for food waste. Black bags, which were collected every two weeks, will now be picked up every three weeks, with a maximum of three bags per house in total being permitted to be left outside homes. The council says the changes are because almost half of the contents put in black bags are recyclable.
The move has been hailed as a “step in the right direction to improve the wellbeing of Carmarthenshire" as the council gears up for further changes in 2024 which will drastically alter the way residents store waste and leave it out on the kerbside.
Furthermore, the council is introducing a new collection service for glass bottles and jars which will be collected every three weeks. For those households receiving the new service, the collection day will be on the same day as black bag collections. Residents can sign up to receive e-mail or text reminders about their respective collection days here, or alternatively people can check their allocated collection days by entering their post code here. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
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While the above changes have come into force this week, recycling and disposing of waste will look even more different in Carmarthenshire within the next 12 months or so. The council intends to make further changes in order to meet the Welsh Government’s 70% recycling target by 2025, so in 2024 black bags will remain on a three-weekly collection while food waste will remain on the weekly collection cycle. However, Carmarthenshire will see separate weekly collections of glass, paper, cardboard, cans and plastic, textiles and batteries and small household appliances.
The council intends to collect the different types of waste using vehicles with separate compartments after residents have sorted waste into different bags or containers themselves. It said the current practice of placing all recycling into blue bags “will not be possible in the future as we seek to produce higher grade recycling materials” and that by separating items, “contamination will be significantly reduced”.
It has not yet been decided what types of bags or boxes will be used in 2024, but the council has insisted it will source the most user-friendly methods for both residents and collection crews. Councillor Edward Thomas, cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services, said of this week's changes: “As of this week, we as a county will be recycling more. By collecting your blue bags more often, alongside the weekly food waste bin and by collecting even more items that can be recycled, such as glass, hygiene and nappy waste, you’ll have less non-recyclable waste to put out to be collected.
“The reason why we will now be collecting black bags every three weeks is because, on average, almost half of the contents put in black bags are recyclable, therefore there is still a lot more that we can do to reduce our waste. This is a step in the right direction to improve the wellbeing of Carmarthenshire, its residents and its future generations. I would like to thank our waste and recycling team for their hard work and commitment in improving the council’s recycling capability, and to the public for continuing to do the right thing and for doing your bit for the environment by sorting your waste and recycling what you can.”
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