County encourages more food waste recycling

* See reaction at foot of story from former Llangollwn county councillor Stuart Davies 

A food recycling project is being piloted in three areas of Denbighshire as part of efforts to encourage greater use of recycling facilities before significant changes are introduced to the county’s waste and recycling services.

During a recent monitoring exercise the council noticed that a total of 600 properties had not placed their food waste caddies out in the previous weeks. 

Those households have received a leaflet which encourages them to recycle food waste and to make sure that householders are aware of the equipment needed to recycle food.

The equipment includes an orange kerbside collection bin, a convenient silver kitchen caddy that can be placed on counter tops or under the sink and a roll of compostable liners.

Any households not placing their food waste bins ready for collection will be visited by a team of recycling advisors, to see what can be done to rectify any issues.

In December 2018, the Council approved plans to change waste and recycling collections in Denbighshire.  Those changes will come into effect during 2021 and will be:

§  a new weekly collection for recyclables such as paper, glass, cans, and plastic

§  a new weekly collection for nappies and incontinence wear

§  a weekly collection for food waste

§  a new fortnightly collection for clothes and small electrical items

The council says that if residents use the recycling service correctly, it should only result in a minimal amount of residual waste being created.  

As a result, the council will be changing the collection of non-recyclable waste to every four weeks for the majority of households.

Residents will be issued with a  bigger black bin if they need one, but overall, households would have more capacity each week for managing their waste than they have with our current service.  

The new weekly recycling service, using a Trollibloc system, would provide more capacity for recycling when compared to the current fortnightly collection with the blue wheelie bin.  

The council says residents will be able to free up even more space in their black bin by using new kerbside recycling services for textiles, small electrical goods, batteries and where needed, nappies and incontinence waste.   

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet lead Member for Highways, Environmental Impact, Waste and Sustainable Travel, said: “The council provides a weekly food waste recycling service to properties and people should be using it to take away unwanted food. They should not be placing any food waste in their black bin. If this initiative is successful, it could be drawn out across  the county.

“The council can fine people who repeatedly fail to separate their rubbish so it is important people take the time to put the right waste in the right container. 

"The majority of residents in Denbighshire recycle their food waste and we thank them for that, but we need to understand why some people do not dispose of their food waste properly. Households receive orange kerbside collection  bins that goes out once a week with the remainder of the refuse. A convenient silver kitchen caddy is used to  gather the food waste and a roll of compostable liners.

“This is a very timely initiative as we prepare our plans for a significant waste and recycling project being rolled out in 2021. In the meantime, our efforts to encourage greater amounts of recycling continues. And over the coming months we will be rolling out a series of initiatives to make it safer and more community-spirited to recycle as much as we can."

* To find out information about waste and recycling in Denbighshire, visit: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/recycling

Reaction from former Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies ...

How dare Cllr Brian Jones threaten residents of Denbighshire with fines when his department is just as guilty of not collecting recycling properly themselves?

About five years ago DCC rolled out the recycling scheme in Llangollen, however they did not have small enough vehicles to access country properties such as mine and we have been on sack collection since. One for plastics, paper, metal etc and one for everything else! That includes waste food! 

As the then County Councillor I was promised that as the fleet was renewed that vehicles suitable for collecting the various recycling would be incorporated and we could ALL do recycling properly! It has not happened! We still are on two sack collection! 

The question needs to be asked of this arrogant councillor, is why he thinks it is ok to threaten residents with fines for not recycling when his own department is not doing its job properly by providing proper facilities for recycling to residents out in the country side? It smacks of having double standards!