Plans to cut local authority funding in Wales by 175 million from 2014/15 could put pressure on waste and recycling services, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has warned.
And, the local authority body said that the cuts, announced in the Welsh Governments draft budget on Tuesday (October 8) are likely to mean that councils would need to explore alternative models to ensure that the countrys ambitious waste and recycling targets are met.
Others have commented that budget cuts could lead councils to adopt commingled collections of recyclables as a cost saving measure a move that would be at odds with the Welsh Governments preference for local authorities to carry out source-separated collections.
A WLGA spokesman said the cuts, which would mean a 4% average fall in core council funding, are expected to have an adverse effect on local public services, including the route to recycling targets.
He said: While the Welsh Government does allocate a Sustainable Waste Management Grant to local councils, on top of the general local government settlement, this specific grant has already been subject to a recent cut and is expected to reduce further in coming years.
In light of this, and the wider cuts being made to council budgets, alternative models for delivering local waste services are being considered and developed to ensure councils can meet the statutory recycling targets set by Welsh Government.
Targets
He added: In Wales all 22 councils have responsibilities to meet these targets. For example, if a council suddenly saw a cut to its waste budget of 40% I think we would have something to say about that.
Cardiff council has already considered potential savings to its waste and recycling services, lobbying the government for the power to introduce pay as you throw charges and suggesting monthly residual waste collections (see letsrecycle.com story).
In Wales all 22 councils have responsibilities to meet these targets. For example, if a council suddenly saw a cut to its waste budget of 40% I think we would have something to say about that.’
Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) spokesman
WLGA said while the proposals attracted controversy, council officers were being left with fewer options.
However, the Welsh Government said that while in the past it had worked to cushion local authorities from the impact of budget cuts, shared savings between councils could be employed to help meet overall costs.
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: Local authorities that follow our waste collection guidelines will be better placed to meet future targets at lower overall costs. We also encourage collaboration and partnership working between local authorities as this can result in shared savings.
For example the collaborative procurements for the treatment of food waste and residual waste have resulted in significant multi-million pound savings for local authorities.
Commingling
Meanwhile, it has also been suggested the budget restraints could see an increase in commingled recycling, despite the Welsh Government touting source-separation as the cornerstone of its Towards Zero Waste recycling strategy (see letsrecycle.com story).
Biffa, which provides recycling and waste services for Isle of Anglesey, Conwy and Vale of Glamorgan councils, claimed that budget cuts could help to drive efficiencies throughout council services.
A spokesman for the company said: Amongst our English clients, virtually all have implemented some form of cost reduction for services. In our experience, this has not, and should not, directly affect the all-important objective of increasing recycling and so diverting more refuse from expensive disposal.
Cost-cutting generally affects activities such as street cleansing schedules and frequencies, but it can also mean councils introducing more efficient collection systems. Until now, the key driver in selecting recycling collection services in Wales does not appear to have been price or cost. This may be about to change, and if it does, we foresee an increase in commingled collections using wheeled bins.
He added: We at Biffa are confident that should Welsh budgets be cut, we can and will work closely with our local authority clients to help them achieve both their financial and service objectives.
The announcement comes after Wales achieved its first statutory recycling target of 52% in August according to provisional data released in August (see letsrecycle.com story).
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