‘It’s time to listen to our two-bag waste concerns’
There’s been ‘overwhelming concern’ at new rules... now there’s a call for the council to recognise people’s fears:
“OVERWHELMING public concern” about the new two-bag rubbish cap should be formally recognised by the council.
That is the call from the Labour-run authority’s new Conservative opposition, which is also urging other members to back its bid to closely examine the controversial seven-year waste contract with Kier.
The Tory group has proposed a two-part motion, which will go before the full council next Wednesday .
The move follows an angry response to the twobag limit, which comes into force along with new recycling arrangements on June 5, and a petition calling for the new rule to be scrapped.
Newly-elected Conservative councillor Alex Williams said while a full review of the seven-year waste contract signed by Bridgend County Borough Council with Kier is probably not possible, he believes it is possible to address residents’ concerns.
He said: “I believe it is possible to scrutinise the contract and that we can work with the contractor to resolve some of the concerns which petitioners and residents have highlighted.”
Before next Wednesday’s meeting, resident Mel Eratt, 41, from Pencoed, and a delegation will also be handing the petition, which has been signed by 2,700 people to date, over to Bridgend council.
Mel said her intention is to highlight people’s anger and she is determined the council “will hear our voices”.
Alex said the Conservatives are putting forward a motion to council which states: “That this council i: recognises the overwhelming public concern regarding the new waste management contract and recycling scheme and ii: refers the operation of the waste contract to scrutiny for consideration and reporting to cabinet.”
He added he is hopeful the motion can gain crossparty support.
This week many parts of Bridgend county will have their final collection of black bag waste.
From June 5, residents will only be able to put out two specially-issued blue bags of non-recyclable waste per fortnight.
Only properties with six or more residents or ash-
producing coal fires can apply for extra bags.
The new scheme is designed to help Bridgend county reach the Welsh Government’s recycling target of 70% by 2025. It will mean residents have to sort their recyclabes into a total of six separate containers ahead of weekly collection from the kerbside.
Councillor Hywel Williams, the council’s Deputy Leader, said: “Because the Welsh Government recognises that our planet cannot continue to cope with the amount of rubbish we are throwing away, they have set new targets of 64% in 2019-20, and 70% in 202425 for how much household waste needs to be recycled.
“Councils will be fined heavily for missing those targets, so if we kept our current system and maintained a 58% recycling rate, it would result in fines of almost a million pounds a year. Those fines would have a sizable impact on local services.
“Therefore, we carried out extensive public consultation and worked alongside recycling experts WRAP Cymru to identify a system which is suitable and reasonable for the vast majority of residents, while also remaining cost effective for the local authority.
“We are not alone in doing this. Other councils across the whole of the UK have already successfully introduced waste limits, while others have altered the frequency of their waste collections to every three or even four weeks.
“The remaining councils that haven’t already changed their arrangements will be considering what they need to do to improve their recycling rates.
“Our new recycling and waste arrangements, which come into effect from Monday, June 5, will encourage everyone to recycle more and help to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfill.
“The petition and the motions from the Conservative opposition will be received and considered by the scrutiny committee.
“In the meantime, I would urge all residents to familiarise themselves with the new arrangements by going online at www.recycleforbridgend. wales”