Helping residents to recycle more

COMMUNITY recycling advisors are hitting the streets of Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford to help residents recycle even more.

The advisors will be knocking on doors to advise householders on the council’s recycling scheme and hopefully increase the county’s recycling rate.

They will be visiting homes in the Brewery Road, Russell Terrace, Lime Grove, Picton Terrace and College Road area of Carmarthen.

They will also be in the Tyisha, Swiss Valley and Bryn area of Llanelli; the Bonllwyn and Tirydail areas of Ammanford as well as Garnant and Glanamman.

Monitoring work is already underway in these areas to find out how many people are putting out their blue bags and green food bins.

It is then followed by the door-knocking exercise to find out if there is a reason why some householders may not be recycling and to encourage them to take part.

Executive Board Member for Street Scene Cllr Colin Evans said: “The recycling advisors are doing a great job by getting out into the community and supporting and advising residents.

“As well as talking to residents to find out if they have any issues, they have a stock of replacement food bins and blue bags as well as information booklets and collection calendars.”

The recycling advisors are funded by the European Regional Development Fund, through Welsh Government; as part of the South West Wales Materials Efficiency project with Pembrokeshire County Council.

The aim is to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill by promoting reuse and recycling.

In other parts of the county they have visited; figures have shown a marked improvement in the recycling rate.

Last year the council recycled around 54% of its rubbish but must achieve a target of 58% by 2015/16 rising to70% by 2025. Failure to reach the Welsh Government targets could result in large financial penalties.