Council bans plastic shopping bags from recycling collections
PLASTIC shopping bags will be banned from recycling collections in the Vale of Glamorgan after residents were accused of using them to “hide” food waste and soiled nappies.
Recyclable waste will only be collected in council-issued bags and boxes from August 19.
The council says people are disposing of items such as cat litter, food waste, textiles and nappies with recyclable waste in single-use plastic bags.
The authority says it is taking action as up to a third of its recycling is being lost because due to contamination.
Entire lorry loads of recycling have been rejected at the processing centre due to the contamination of the waste, the council has said.
It comes after the council restricted black bag waste collections to two bags per household last year.
Residents were written to about the changes - but emails seen by the Echo shows these letters were sent out without the knowledge or approval of the leader of the council.
The letter to residents, sent by Colin Smith, the council’s operational manager for neighbourhood services, said: “Although the restriction of black bags has been very successful, we have seen an increase in contaminated recycling with food, nappies and textiles being hidden within single-use plastic bags, which has resulted in a high volume of our recycling being rejected.”
The council says the vast majority of Vale residents are “committed recyclers” and have helped the county become one of the top areas in Wales.
But in an email to councillors on August 2, Mr Smith added: “We are unfortunately experiencing extremely high levels of contamination in our dry recycling stream as a result of the increased use of single-use plastic – white or clear and green bags in particular.
“On some days, the levels over the last couple of months have been so high, it has resulted in all our recycling being rejected. We are finding food and nappies are the main contaminants which is disappointing, especially when there are no restrictions on how much food or nappies you can have collected at the kerbside.”
Council leader Neil Moore replied to the email and the letters to residents, saying: “This has not been sanctioned by me and the email was issued without my knowledge or consent. I have instructed officers to rescind it.”
In a follow-up email to councillors on August 5, deputy leader of the council Councillor Lis Burnett said: “It was recognised that the letter to residents was not as accessible as we would have wished.
“Unfortunately as the letter had been issued via the government portal it was not possible to either amend or rescind it. While summer is never a good time to make a changes to waste and recycling collection arrangements the scale of the issue demanded urgent action.”
Cllr Burnett has admitted to the Echo that the letters were “not as we would have wanted”.
She said in a statement: “Vale residents have made a tremendous effort to achieve such a high rate of recycling but unfortunately a minority are ignoring the guidelines and it’s causing a major problem. Urgent action is needed and we are delighted at the immediate uptake of the changes by many residents.
“Single-use plastic is also a significant threat to our planet, particularly our oceans, and as residents of a coastal county we understand the seriousness of that damage. These changes will also help reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste produced.”
Extra supplies of the council’s reusable bags and boxes are available for free at a number of locations across the Vale, with more information on the council’s website.