Councillors attend recycling workshops

COUNTY councillors have been talking about why it is so important that we reduce and recycle our rubbish.

Workshops have been held for local members in Ammanford, Llanelli and Carmarthen to discuss the future of waste in Carmarthenshire.

Executive Board Member for Street Scene Cllr Colin Evans and Director of Technical Services Richard Workman spoke about the future challenges facing the authority and how important it was for members to get involved.

They heard that Carmarthenshire was doing well and is currently recycling / composting around 50% of its waste.

This means the county is on course to meet the 52% target, set by Welsh Government, by April this year.

The amount of rubbish going to landfill was also decreasing year on year and again the county was well within its landfill allowance

However, the targets are set to get tougher, with a recycling / composting target of 58% by 2015/16; 64% by 2019/20 and 70% by 2024/25.

Failure to achieve these targets as well as the landfill allowance could result in severe financial penalties.

Cllr Evans said: “It is very important we try to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce in the first place, so that means we think about what we are buying and throwing away. For example, the amount of packaging on items we buy and whether something could be repaired or reused by someone else?

“And if something cannot be reused, then we make sure that if it can be recycled it is, and not put in a black bag to go to landfill.”

Members watched a short film and were then given an opportunity to ask officers from the waste and recycling team questions.

They were also given an information pack which included details on various services and initiatives such as the bulky waste collection service, real nappy trial packs, adopt a recycling site scheme and the Recycling Advisory Programme with Age Cymru which provides help with recycling for the over 50s.

A visit to the Materials Recycling Facility in Johnstown, Carmarthen, is now being organised for councillors so that they can see the blue bags being sorted for recycling.

Local Member for Quarter Bach Cllr Glynog Davies attended the workshop at Ammanford Town Hall and is already helping to spread the word on why we need to recycle our rubbish.

He said: “It was a very useful session and we were given a lot of information which we can now pass on to residents in our communities. The team have a number of schemes and initiatives to help residents with their waste and unfortunately not everyone is aware of them so we can help to get the messages across.

“I have already been along to Brynaman Pensioners to speak to them about what they can do to recycle more and what extra help is available if they need it.”