Calls for fines and education over reduction in black bin collections

Concerns have been raised that fly-tipping in Wrexham could increase significantly if black bin collections are reduced to once every three weeks.

Wrexham Council is currently considering ways to improve recycling rates after it went from being one of the best performing local authorities in Wales to the third-worst during 2023/24.

Officials today (Wednesday, 18 September) outlined their preference to move to three-weekly collections for general waste to encourage more residents to recycle.

The area’s recycling rate for the last financial year stood at 63.8 per cent, which was just below the Welsh Government’s previous target of 64.

The goal for this year has now increased to 70 per cent and the devolved government has warned the council will face a hefty fine unless steps are taken to improve the figure.

However, members of the authority’s backbench homes and environment scrutiny committee raised strong objections to the proposals after claiming it would lead to more rubbish being dumped in the streets.

Cllr Paul Blackwell (Lab) told a meeting at Wrexham’s Guildhall that fly-tipping was already a big problem on the Plas Madoc estate which he represents.

He said: “We need to sort our own house out first and be on top of our game before we go down this road.

“Officers say that by reducing black bin collections it will force people to recycle, but it won’t in my ward.

“We’ve got a major issue with fly-tipping and the amount of bin bags piled up against substations and on streets.

“People just dump it if they can’t fit it in their bins. They’re buying refuse sacks from the shop and putting them at the side of the road.

“We need to start finding these people, and we also need to go big on education because I don’t see much evidence of that in areas where there is a lot of fly-tipping.”

Potential fines from the government for missing this year’s target have been set at a rate of £200 per tonne.

Council officials said achieving a recycling rate of 64 per cent in 2024/25 could therefore result in a penalty of approximately £660,000 being issued.

In July, neighbouring Flintshire Council backed a move to three-weekly bin collections.

However, the authority’s Labour council leader Ian Roberts quit soon after following a backlash.

Plaid Cymru councillor Carrie Harper also highlighted issues experienced in Denbighshire following changes to waste collections.

She said: “I’m not convinced on this based on what we’ve got in the report, because I’m not clear it’s actually going to get us where we need to go.

“My first point is really just about how controversial this has been in neighbouring authorities.

“Flintshire lost a council leader over this, and Denbighshire is in an absolute mess as well, because they’d underestimated the amount of recycling they were going to get at the kerbside

“There are cost implications in terms of getting a strategy like this wrong. I think they’ve spent a small fortune on agency staff to sort that out.”

Officers partly blamed an increase in online deliveries and associated packaging during the Covid pandemic for the drop in Wrexham’s recycling rate.

Cllr Robert Ian Williams called for strong punishments such as fines to be imposed on residents who fail to recycle.

Councillors asked for more details to be brought back to them on the plans at the end of the debate.

The committee also requested for the possibility of enhanced education for residents on recycling to be considered as part of any proposals.

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter