Huge reduction in black bags collected in Swansea

THE amount of black bags placed out for collection in Swansea has reduced by more than 25 percent in 12 months, according to latest figures.

The sharp reduction has been achieved following the introduction of a three-bag limit that Swansea Council introduced in April 2014 and continued promotion of the recycling facilities available, prompting residents to use the alternative kerbside recycling services to dispose of household waste.

Annual disposal figures show that in 2013/14 the council collected 30,660 tonnes of black bags from the kerbside. In 2014/15 the figures has dropped to 22,770 tonnes. The Council launched the ‘Keep it to 3’ campaign city-wide as a way of boosting recycling and help to meet government recycling targets and reduce the amount of black bag waste sent to landfill.

The changes have meant that residents can put no more than three black bags out on collection day.

Cllr Mark Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment & Transportation, said: “The changes we made to collections including the introduction of a limit have been a real success so far. We have significantly reduced the amount of waste we send to landfill.”

The Council also carried out extensive door-to-door surveys across the city to encourage households to use the recycling services available to them.

Cllr Thomas added: “The aim has always been to encourage residents to make better use of our kerbside recycling services so that we can dispose of household waste in a better way than simply burying it in the ground.

“I’m delighted that the changes have had a positive impact and that the residents have worked so hard with us to achieve the increase in recycling.”

Councils in Wales must recycle 58% waste by March 2016. Failure to do so could result in council being fined.

Cllr Thomas said: “We are certainly going in the right direction and we are doing all we can to give residents the opportunities to recycle and help us meet these targets.”

The council recently launched a trial plastics collection in the city using reusable pink sacks instead of disposable pink bags. If it’s successful, it could be rolled out across the city to improve the ability to process the plastics collected and help the council save on annual costs for buying disposable bags.