Around 10,000 householders whose waste is ordinarily collected fortnightly on a Monday will be affected, with the remaining residents in the North Wales borough to receive refuse collections on a three-weekly basis.
Kerbside sorted dry recycling and food waste collections will remain weekly while garden waste, textiles and small WEEE will be collected every two weeks.
The four-weekly pilot scheme is the first of its kind in Wales, following Fife council’s decision to trial the timetable in a bid to reduce costs and boost recycling earlier this year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Conwy has refrained from committing to four-weekly waste collections until results from the trial can be evaluated – instead phasing in three-weekly refuse collections for all remaining residents in the county.
‘Opportunity’
Councillor Dave Cowans, Conwy’s Highways, Environment and Sustainability Portfolio holder, said: “This is a great opportunity for all residents to review their recycling habits and make sure that everything that can be recycled, is being recycled.
“In Conwy, over half of the average household wheelie bin is incorrectly filled with recycling and food waste which is collected separately every week. Our teams are available if you need any advice or support.”
At a meeting of Conwy council in February, deputy leader Ronnie Hughes dubbed four-weekly collections “a bridge too far”. But Cllr Cowans argued that unless the model was adopted the council would struggle to identify future savings (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council estimates that £1.6 million could be generated from capturing recyclable materials placed in residual waste bins each year.
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