Green minded residents snap up recycling bags

Residents in Swansea are snapping up thousands of recycling bags in a bid to help the council meet government recycling targets.

Since Christmas, households have visited local post offices, shops and district housing offices to stock up on recycling bags and it’s meant recycling officers in Swansea restocking shop supplies quicker than they normally would.

Swansea Council is calling on residents to continue their efforts so it can meet the 58% recycling targets all councils in Wales need to meet by April.

More than 90 sites across the city supply recycling bags to residents to help households do the right thing.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Environment & Transportation, said: “Our recycling team normally re supplies post offices and shops once a week. In some cases, since Christmas, some locations have had double the amount they normally would.

“Hopefully this is a reflection of residents’ efforts to keep recycling as much as they can so we can meet the national targets.”

The Council launched the Keep it to 3 – black bag waste scheme in April 2014, requiring residents to place out no more than three black bags of waste each fortnight.

In the first 12 months, residents disposed of 6,000 tonnes less black bag waste than the previous year. The overall recycling rate for 2014/2015 was 56.7% and was an almost 4% increase on the previous year as a result of Keep it to 3.

Cllr Hopkins added: “The move to limit the number of black bags households could put out for collection each fortnight was a very good move. It has resulted in many more residents choosing to recycle.

“Our recycling teams have also done a lot to educate residents by knocking doors and talking to individual households about our recycling services.

“Hopefully all this effort will mean we meet the recycling targets and avoid and fines which could be issued if we failed to meet the targets.”