Families take up waste challenge
TWO Llanelli families have taken up a council waste challenge to try and slim their bins.
Michelle Williams from Nantwern in Llwynhendy and Alam Choudry from Brynelli in Dafen have agreed to keep track of all the rubbish they throw away and how much they recycle.
In Carmarthenshire, we send an average of 26,000 tonnes of rubbish to landfill every year – that’s the equivalent weight of 6,500 adult elephants!*
Although we are getting better and the county is now recycling 48% of its waste, we still have a long way to go.
Carmarthenshire County Council, like all local authorities in Wales, has strict recycling and landfill targets to meet. The Welsh Government’s ‘Towards Zero Waste’ strategy outlines the actions we must all take if we are to reach a 70% recycling rate by 2025 and become a zero waste nation by 2050 and we all have a part to play if we are to avoid fines potentially running into millions of pounds.
Michelle, aged 39, is a council housing tenant and lives with her partner and three children 16-year-old twins Lee and Dean and Jayden, who is 16 months. The family also have two dogs Susie and Storm.
Michelle, a Tenant Executive Member of the Llanelli Tenants Network, said: “I try to recycle as much as I can, I use the blue bags for paper and cans and so on and I use the green food bin too. I try to buy refills and I always take my own bags with me when I go shopping.
“It will be interesting to find out if I can do more than what I am doing already.”
Alam and his wife Hameeda have also agreed to keep a ‘waste’ diary, logging everything they throw away and what they recycle. They too are on the council’s kerbside recycling scheme. Blue bags are provided for recycling paper, cans, cardboard and plastic and green bins for food waste. There are five people in their household in total.
Alam who is very active in the local community, said: “I would say we put out about two, sometimes three black bags a fortnight, and we regularly put out three or four blue bags. We have a compost bin in the garden so we don’t have much food waste but we do put out the green bin, even if it is only a small amount.”
Council officers Tina Brice and Karen Fulham will be helping and supporting the families advising them on how they can change their habits to reduce their waste and recycle more.Hameeda added: “We don’t have much food waste because if we have some left, I will use it the next day. I make sure I wash and dry the cans and plastic bottles and squash them before putting into the blue bag. I think we recycle everything that can be recycled.”
Tina said: “We are very grateful to both Michelle and Alam and their families for agreeing to take part in the challenge and keeping diaries of what they throw away. The aim is to encourage people to rethink the way they dispose of their waste as even the smallest of changes to our daily routine can make a big impact.”
Executive Board Member for the Environment Cllr Philip Hughes said: “A lot of work is underway in Carmarthenshire to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill and increase our recycling rate, but we need residents to do their bit too. Hopefully this challenge will make us all start thinking about what we are throwing away and how we can make a difference.”
*1 adult elephant weights approximately four tonnes
CAPTION: Council officers Karen Fulham and Tina Brice sift through black bags with Michelle Williams from Nantwern in Llwynhendy.
CAPTION: Council sustainability officer Tina Brice advises Alam and Hameeda Choudry of Brynelli in Dafen what can and can’t go in the blue recycling bags.
Pictures: Jeff Connell.
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle
