A war of words has broken out between the top-performing council for recycling in Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government over the devolved administration's preference for source-separated collections.
Denbighshire adopted commingled collections in April 2009 and claims that the switch helped the local authority's recycling rate rise from 32% in 2008/09 to 51% for 2009/10, according to provisional figures published in June. This makes it the top performing council for recycling in Wales.
The change saw it move its collection service in-house – taking over from previous contractor SITA UK – and roll out 240 litre blue wheeled bins for recyclables.
However, the council has expressed concern that it will be forced to change its service in the wake of the publication of the WAG's Towards Zero Waste strategy in June 2010, which included an emphasis on source separated collections of recyclable material (see letsrecycle.com story).
The strategy states: “For household waste [less contamination] is best achieved through kerbside sort whereby recyclable materials are sorted at the kerbside into different containers or compartments on a collection vehicle.”
And, in a media briefing held by Ms Davidson at the launch of the strategy, the minister said it had “not ruled out” making kerbside sort compulsory in the country but was currently focused on gathering evidence on the topic.
Sector Plan
In addition to publishing the plan, the WAG is currently consulting on the Municipal Sector Plan, which is being used as an evidence base to inform the Government's waste policy for local authorities, and the consultation document includes an even greater emphasis on source-separate collections.
It states: “Evidence gathered by the Welsh Assembly Government to date indicates that the best way of delivering the sustainable development outcomes laid down in Towards Zero Waste is for recyclable materials to be sorted at the kerbside. This helps the achievement of high quality source separation of materials and closed loop recycling.”
We have all become familiar with the blue bin system currently in place and while residents have made it work so well – we should keep it
Ann Jones, AM Vale of Clwyd
On the council's website, Denbighshire takes umbrage with the views expressed in the Municipal Sector Plan consultation document and states that its commingled service is “better because it is simple and convenient for our residents”.
And, it claims a council survey found that three times the amount of residents preferred the commingled collection to the previous kerbside sort system.
Support was given to the campaign earlier this week by Assembly Member Ann Jones – who represents the Vale of Clwyd, which is part of Denbighshire – who wrote to Ms Davidson asking for the county council's commingled service to be retained.
“We have all become familiar with the blue bin system currently in place and while residents have made it work so well – we should keep it,” Ms Jones said. “Compliance with the current scheme is as high as it could be and the last thing I want to see happening is for our recycling rates to fall.
“I understand that the Welsh Assembly Government has a preferred collection system and I'm sure it's ideal for other parts of Wales. I have now written to the minister asking for our scheme to be maintained so that residents can continue to benefit from a simple and effective service.”
WAG
In response, the WAG has defended its support for source-separated collections and stated that, as it is currently consulting on its Municipal Sector Plan, no final decisions or “prescriptions” have been taken.
In a statement to letsrecycle.com, a WAG spokeswoman said: “We are seeking views on whether a common and consistent system should be used across Wales, whether this should be our preferred kerbside sort system which is cheaper and better for the environment, and whether we should only provide extra funding to local authorities that choose to use this preferred system.
With regards to Denbighshire, the WAG claimed that the North Wales council had not opted to partake in the consultation process.
“In addition we have commissioned a detailed study to compare the environmental, financial and social performance of each type of collection. We have asked Denbighshire county council to take part and it has refused. We urge Denbighshire to take part in the study so that the arguments can be settled one way or another,” she said.
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