Carmarthenshire hits 48% recycling rate

NEW figures show Carmarthenshire achieved a 48% recycling rate for the first quarter of 2011/12.

This is an increase of four per cent on the same period last year.

In total, 9254 tonnes of household waste was recycled / composted in April, May and June of this year out of a total of 19,300 tonnes.

This means Carmarthenshire is now recycling and composting almost half of its waste.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “The figures for the first quarter of this year are very pleasing and I would like to thank householders for their continued efforts to separate their waste for recycling.

“Recycling figures are generally higher during the summer months than at other times of the year because of the large amount of garden waste sent for composting; however, it is still showing a four per cent increase on the same period last year.

“A number of new projects are underway to try and increase our recycling rate including a new project with Age Cymru Sir Gâr to assist older people in the county. We are also aiming to have 100% of the county served by some sort of kerbside recycling by the end of this financial year.”

The figures have been published by the Welsh Government and are compiled from information submitted by Welsh local authorities to the WasteDataFlow database.

Wales is the only country in the UK to introduce statutory targets for municipal recycling. The first statutory target for local authorities is 52% for 2012/13.

Executive Board Member for the Environment Cllr Philip Hughes said: “A lot of work is underway in Carmarthenshire to reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill and to increase our recycling rate.

“I am delighted by these latest figures which are very encouraging, however it is vital we keep up the good work and recycle as much of our waste as possible if we are to achieve the 52% recycling target for 2012/13.”

The green bin/blue bag recycling scheme was launched in February 2008 and has been a big success. Approximately 90% of the county is on the scheme but much work is underway to roll it out to the remaining households.