Newport, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent fail to meet Government recycling targets

Provisional statistics released yesterday showed 57 per cent of waste in Newport and Torfaen and 49 per cent in Blaenau Gwent was recycled between April 2015 and March 2016.

These were the only three areas in Wales not to achieve the 58 per cent target, with Blaenau Gwent reporting the lowest rate in the country.

Councils which did not achieve the target could face fines, although the Welsh Government, which has set a target of recycling 100 per cent by 2050, has not yet revealed if these will be imposed.

Monmouthshire and Caerphilly were both way ahead of the target at 62 per cent, while Ceredigion was the best in Wales at 68 per cent, only two per cent off the Welsh Government’s target of 70 per cent by March 2025.

Rates were up 13 per cent in Caerphilly between April 2015 and March this year in comparison with the previous 12 months, as well as eight per cent in Torfaen, six per cent in Newport and four per cent in Monmouthshire. But Blaenau Gwent saw its rate of fall by one per cent in the same period.

The overall rate of recycling, reusing or composting in Wales was 60 per cent.

A Newport City Council spokeswoman said the council’s recycling rate in 12-month period was 57.14 per cent and so far this year was 59.9 per cent.

The council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, sustainability and transport said Cllr Ray Truman said the figures were “frustrating”.

“We are working hard with the Welsh Government to ensure we hit our targets in the future,” he said.

A Torfaen County Borough Council spokesman said a fire at one of the waste processing plants in December last year had hit the authority’s recycling rate, which was 57.44 per cent for the entire year.

“Since introducing smaller wheelie bins for general waste between September and November 2015 we have seen a significant increase in our recycling rates,” he said.

“From January to March 2016 we achieved a recycling rate of 59 per cent, and current rates are up even further at around 66 per cent.

“As well as introducing smaller wheelie bins, and carrying out activities to raise awareness of recycling across the borough, we have also introduced free kitchen caddy liners to boost food recycling, and improved our household waste recycling centre to enable residents to recycle more.”

Monmouthshire County Council’s cabinet member for waste and recycling Cllr Bryan Jones welcomed the county’s figures.

“It is great that the communities of Monmouthshire continue to support our recycling efforts,” he said.

“We remain one of the best recyclers among local authorities in Wales and the UK.

“During the first quarter of this year we achieved a 70 per cent recycling rate for the first time and this success is only possible with backing from our residents and their commitment to ensuring waste is managed sustainably.”

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet member for community services Cllr Nigel George welcomed the results and paid tribute to residents for their part in achieving them.

“We also recognise that there is still work to do and we are currently focussing attention on further increasing food waste recycling,” he said.

“By working together we can boost our recycling rates in the future and make Caerphilly one of the greenest places in Wales.”

The Welsh Government has said Newport, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent councils have been given additional funding to help them achieve the targets in the future.

Environment and rural affairs secretary Lesley Griffiths called the figures “highly encouraging”.

“It’s clear that local authorities and householders are working hard to recycle and we are well on the way to achieving our 70 per cent recycling target set for 2025.

“I am proud that we lead the rest of the UK in our recycling rate but I want us to do even better and become Europe’s best recycling nation.”

The figures prompted a fiery reaction on the Argus’ Facebook page, with many readers saying the recycling system in the city and elsewhere was too difficult to understand.

Eleisha Jones, who said she had recently moved to Newport from Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) agreed it is more difficult to sort recycling in the city.

“The cardboard bag is ridiculously small here and separating everything is a pain,” she said.

“Also you can't run out of space in RCT as they take however many bags you leave.

“Recycling is collected every week, general waste fortnightly.

“I recycle less since I've moved here and find all the separate bags and boxes in the garden very annoying.”

And Jennifer Voisy wrote: “They recently changed what goes into what bag in Newport and even then they don't make it clear as to what things can and can't be recycled.

“Get one thing in one bag wrong and they generally refused the whole bag.

“Then they also want you to wash up stuff for recycling making more effort for people (not that that's a problem for me, but some lazy people out there may have an issue with it).”

By Mary-Ann Jones praised the system in Caerphilly, saying: “We have regular waste picked up fortnightly and recycling every week for food and garden waste and the regular household recyclable stuff.

“My bin is always full.”

Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East Steffan Lewis said called for action over the low rate in Blaenau Gwent. He said he believed fining the council would be “a counterproductive step” and instead called for another council to take over recycling in the area.

"It is clear that the council must take action to introduce a simpler, more straightforward system that will incentive more people to recycle more regularly,” he said.

The Welsh Conservatives’ shadow environment secretary David Melding called the figures “promising”.

It’s reflective of a change in attitudes across society towards recycling, and bodes well for the future,” he said.

But he added: “Unfortunately, however, there are pockets of Wales and in particular the south east, where recycling rates remain stubbornly low and that requires investigation from the Welsh Government.”

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council did not respond to requests for comment.

To view the full report visit gov.wales.