Recycling bins vandalised

A recycling bin at the County Museum in Abergwili has been vandalised for the second time in a month.

The door to the shoe bank was forced open leaving the contents spill on to the ground. It is the second time in a month that the recycling centre by the entrance to the museum has been targeted by vandals.

It is not known if any of the contents were stolen.

Carmarthenshire County Council has more than 150 of these sites throughout the county for residents to recycle their waste – from shoes and clothes to glass, cans and paper – however, vandalism and fly-tipping can often be a problem.

Just before Christmas, a recycling bank in Llandeilo car park was pushed onto its side and damaged; and in October there was a fire at a site in Hendy and the glass bank had to be removed.

Cllr Jim Jones, Chair of the Environment Scrutiny Committee, has criticised those responsible. He said: “We want to encourage people to recycle as much of their waste as possible and I am very disappointed that these sites are being vandalised in this way as they are important facilities for communities.

/English/news/PublishingImages/Llandeilo car park.jpg

“These sites are also expensive to set up and it costs the council even more when we have to replace or repair these recycling banks; this money could be much better spent.”

The council’s environmental enforcement officers regularly patrol the sites and CCTV cameras are also used where problems have been reported.

A number of people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping and anyone caught causing criminal damage will be reported to the police.