Green waste charge a mistake as residents are dumping it in green bins, says councillor
CHARGING FOR GARDEN BIN COLLECTIONS ‘MAY HAVE BEEN MISTAKE’ CLAIMS COUNCILLOR
INTRODUCING a charge for garden waste collections may have been a “mistake”, one councillor has claimed amid falling recycling and composting rates on Anglesey.
A report presented to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee told how year on year drops had been noted in the percentage of waste reused, recycled or composted.
And there are concerns some residents may now be dumping garden waste into their general waste bins instead as a result of the £35 annual fee.
The latest performance scorecard for the first quarter of 2021/22 found that only 64.55% was recycled against an internal target of 70%, down on the 67.07% and 72.79% recorded over the same period in 2020/21 and 2019/20 respectively.
But while acknowledging the fact that people spending more time at home as a result of the pandemic may be at least partially responsible, the decision to introduce a £35 annual charge for green bin garden waste collections was also regarded as a factor by council officers.
“Following on from the new chargeable Green Waste service implemented from April 2021, we have seen a decrease in the tonnages collected, and therefore composted,” the report said.
“Some of this green waste will have been placed in black bins by householders. Such a reduction can be evidenced from 2,456 Tonnes in Quarter 1 2020/21 to 1,863T at the end of Quarter 1 2021/2.”
The decision saw Anglesey become the last North Wales council to introduce such a fee for garden waste collections, with similar annual charges already levied by the region’s other five local authorities.
Addressing last Monday’s committee meeting, executive member Dafydd Rhys Thomas said such patterns were being seen across Wales, with Covid resulting in the temporary closure of the Penhesgyn and Gwalchmai recycling centres and more people working from home.
He added: “Also, the percentage of green waste has gone down, which is perhaps down to us charging a fee for garden waste for the first time ever.
“We foresaw this would drop a little, but a steering group has been established, including Welsh Government officials and we want to see Ynys Môn back at the top of the recycling league table as we were three or four years ago.”
But the leader of the Labour group, Cllr John Arwel Roberts, claimed introducing the charge may have been a “mistake.”
“A 593-tonne drop is quite significant and suggests they went into the black general waste bins instead.
“I asked in January what were the risks involved with introducing a charge for green bins, but it has now been proven.
“People are putting their garden waste in the black bins and as a former portfolio holder I can’t see what this steering group is going to achieve to change the situation.
“Have we made a mistake in introducing this charge?”
Mr Huw Percy, the Head of Service for Highways Waste and Property, stressed: “More people working from home means more being placed in the black bins, although there has also been more recycling.
“We foresee that private industrial waste collections, which do not form part of our figures, will be down.”
He added it was also likely that some people had decided to compost their garden waste themselves, pointing out that the charge had brought in almost £500,000 in income.
The pandemic had also resulted in difficulties obtaining outlets to recycle some materials, including carpets, wood and mattresses, he concluded, which was an issue shared with neighbouring local authorities.
All Welsh councils are expected to recycle, reuse or compost 64% of their waste before a stricter 70% target is introduced in 2024/25.
But while Anglesey had already exceeded this target by hitting 72.2% in 2017/18, the island’s figures have since dropped well back, to 67.26% in 2019/20 – and even further, to 62.96%, in 2020/21.