Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has spoken in the Senedd today of the chaotic roll-out of the new household recycling service in Denbighshire and urged the Labour Welsh Government to promote simpler household recycling systems going forward – like Denbighshire’s old system.
Darren raised the matter in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament after receiving reports of missed collections and rubbish strewn all over the streets following the rollout on June 3rd.
Responding, the Trefnydd, Jane Hutt MS, said she welcomed the introduction of the new system.
Calling for a Statement on household recycling, Darren said:
“I'm delighted that due to the hard work of residents across Wales, Wales has one of the best recycling rates in the world. That's great news, but we also need to make sure that recycling's easy for people and that local systems work.
“The Labour-led Denbighshire council has just spent millions on scrapping its popular, easy-to-use and high performing blue wheelie bin co-mingled or recycling collection service, and instead it's replaced it with a very unpopular trolibocs system, which has been making recycling a nightmare for local residents, and it's cut down the residual waste collections to every four weeks.
“Now, the roll-out, I have to say, has been an absolute shambles. Waste collections have been missed. There's bin clutter all over the streets and litter everywhere too. And it simply isn't good enough.
“So, can I urge the Welsh Government, instead of promoting kerbside recycling only, to promote simpler household recycling systems such as that which was previously used in Denbighshire, to require bins also to be collected at least once a fortnight in the interest of public health, and can we have a statement which confirms that that is the approach that the Welsh Government will take?”
In her response, the Trefnydd, Jane Hutt MS, welcomed the introduction of the new service and confirmed “Denbighshire moved to a service which is in line with the Welsh Government's best practice set out in the collections blueprint”.
Speaking afterwards, Darren added;
“It is concerning that the Trenydd welcomes a system that is quite frankly causing chaos and misery for residents across Denbighshire. Along with local councillors, I have received many complaints since the rollout just over a week ago.
“The Minister said that the Council have been “working with their public – the people they represent – in preparation for that 70 per cent minimum recycling rate that came into force in April 2024, and also, implementing our collections blueprint”, but the truth of the matter is that many residents were only aware of these changes just a few weeks before they came into force, when the council issued a press release.
“If they had consulted with the public, they would have known that a new system was not wanted, and given that Denbighshire already has one of the best recycling rates in Wales, neither was it needed.
“The old system worked fine, and recycling rates could have easily been boosted through a simple education exercise of what should be recycled. Instead, Denbighshire County Council have spent vast amounts on a whole new recycling system, money that would have been better spent on other things.”
ENDS
