Recycling Confusion

A decent report yesterday in the Evening Post about the confusion among residents with the recent changes to the city’s recycling scheme.

In April the council introduced plastic recycling, but made the decision to not collect it on the week when all the usual recycling is collected (the paper, tins, glass and garden waste). Some residents were also getting their kitchen waste collected, and this changed to a weekly cycle in January. At around the same time the plastic recycling was introduced, it was also announced that black bag rubbish collection would be switching to a fortnightly cycle. However, this was not due to start until later in the year.

When the plastic recycling was introduced the leaflet giving the instructions were clear, but the confusion was introduced because it was not clear that black bag collection would remain weekly, whereas the local press were publishing stories about moving to fortnightly collections.

Personally I think it is bad planning by the environment to select plastic recycling on an alternative week to one which everyone normally puts out their recycling. Not only that but it would make my Sunday nights a lot easier when the dreaded sorting and bagging of all the separate items into green, pink, white bags and boxes is done. It would be nice to do all the ‘recycling’ stuff every other week.

In Newport they have been recycling plastics for a few years. They are a wheelie bin authority and have separate bins for rubbish, plastic, paper, glass and tins. They also collect their rubbish fortnightly, but they have large wheelie bins that are more suitable for a fortnightly collection.

Wheelie bins are not without their problems (especially for residents of flats and apartments) and it is something Swansea council dismissed a few years ago.

Maybe it will take a few months for the residents to get used to the schedules, but more confusion shall be introduced when the black bag weekly collection is dropped later this year. Better communication from the council and the co-operation of the local press is key. Plus the removal of the fear of prosecution from the garbage-police for putting a piece of paper in the wrong bag would all help to ease the confusion.

The current waste and recycling schedule is:

Week 1 – Black Bags- rubbish, Pink Bags – plastic, Green Bin – Kitchen Waste

Week 2 – Black Bags- rubbish, Green Bags – glass and tins, Green Bags – paper, Tied Up – Cardboard, White Sacks – Garden Waste, Green Bin – Kitchen Waste

From later this year it shall change to:

Week 1 – Black Bags- rubbish, Pink Bags – plastic, Green Bin – Kitchen Waste

Week 2 – Green Bags – glass and tins, Green Bags – paper, Tied Up – Cardboard, White Sacks – Garden Waste, Green Bin – Kitchen Waste