Sorting rubbish into six boxes a waste of time, say residents

HOMEOWNERS have been left baffled by a new recycling scheme that uses six bags and boxes.

The initiative has been branded “too complicated” and difficult for some older and disabled residents.

Pembrokeshire council in south-west Wales revealed its new recycling programme will commence today for 61,000 homes.

The scheme includes a sack for cardboard, a box for paper, a sack for plastic and metal packaging, a caddy for food waste, a box for glass and a clear bag for small batteries.

Recycling and food waste will be collected weekly, while rubbish bags will be picked up every three weeks – with a three-bag limit per house, although larger families can request additional bags.

At present, each home has a food caddy, a box for glass and a bag for plastics and tins, with black bags for non-recyclables collected every fortnight.

Marjorie Sullivan, 70, said she would have to climb 23 steps from her home with each bag then drive them to the main road to be collected.

“I will not be able to carry all the boxes and bags with the health issues I’ve got. I can’t do it. Then we have to deliver them down to the bottom of the road,” she told the BBC.

The council said the new scheme was in line with a Welsh government blueprint already used by half of councils and it was “confident” people could adapt.

Persistent offenders who refuse to recycle face a fine of £150 – cut to £75 if paid within 10 days – but the council said this would be a last resort.

Richard Brown, the council’s environmental services chief, said the authority had “declared a climate emergency” and people could get

‘I will not be able to carry all the boxes and bags, with the health issues I’ve got’

in touch if they were struggling with the scheme.

John Davies, an opposition councillor, said: “It’s clearly not going to work in the rural setting of the Preselis. It’s a hugely complicated system. Six different processes to decipher what’s recyclable.

“It’s a huge change – 60,000 homes – and it will have an impact on every person in that home.

“I would have preferred to see a pilot scheme like some authorities have done to flush out the issues.”