Doorknocking exercise leads to 11% increase in people recycling

A DOORKNOCKING exercise carried out in an area of Carmarthen has led to an 11% increase in the number of people recycling.

Council recycling officers took to the streets to help and advise residents on recycling their rubbish.

The aim was to find out how much people were recycling and what their views were on the council’s kerbside schemes as well as give advice on how they can recycle more of their household waste.

The Environment Scrutiny Committee was told that the two-stage approach included a set out survey in the first instance, followed by a doorknocking exercise to target residents that were not fully participating in the scheme.

The survey was carried out at a total of 1,326 properties and, of these, 452 households were selected for face-to-face visits.

Housing officers and customer service staff as well as local councillors also went along to help understand the common barriers to recycling.

As well as giving advice, officers also distributed additional blue bags and green food bins.

When the properties were revisited to ascertain the effectiveness of the exercise, officers found an 11% increase in participation.

Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “The most effective way to increase participation and engage with the public is have face-to-face interaction. The doorknocking exercise proved to be very successful and we are now planning to conduct similar exercises in the Llanelli and Ammanford areas.”

Approximately 77,000 households across Carmarthenshire now benefit from kerbside recycling. The county has strict recycling/composting targets to meet and must reduce the amount of waste going to landfill or risks large fines.

Executive Board Member for the Environment Cllr Philip Hughes said: “We want to encourage residents to use their blue bags and food waste bins as much as possible to reduce the amount in black bags that end up on landfill sites. The council is committed to boosting the recycling rates in Carmarthenshire and all the work we are doing will improve and protect our environment now and for future generations.”