A council boss has been in “several hissy fits” urging manufacturers of black plastic food trays to include sparkles or sequins.
Amid major changes to recycling in the Vale of Glamorgan, some delay in improving recycling rates has been laid at the foot of the Westminster government.
One problem is when black plastic food trays enter the Vale’s recycling plant in Cowbridge, the sorting machine can’t recognise the trays as they roll along a black rubber conveyor belt.
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Councillor Peter King, cabinet member for neighbours services and transport, admitted throwing “hissy fits” at delays in getting Westminster to impose new levies on manufacturers.
Vale of Glamorgan council is about to roll out the latest step in its major changes to how residents recycle. From October, residents in Dinas Powys, Penarth, Llandough and Sully will join the rest of Vale in separating their recycling at the kerbside, instead of putting all recycling waste into the same green plastic bags.
Kerbside sort is seen by experts as much more environmentally friendly, cost effective, and with less impact on the climate, than ‘co-mingling’ where everything recyclable is thrown away together. That’s because of the reduced levels of contamination, meaning it’s easier for councils to sell on any recycled material for manufacturers to reuse in the future.
However, a major problem is the focus is currently placed on individual residents to reduce the amount they throw away and increase how much they recycle, while manufacturers can continue to make products without recyclable packaging with impunity. There has been a slow, gradual push in Westminster to make producers responsible for waste they produce.
Councillors on the Vale’s environment and regeneration scrutiny committee were considering the latest recycling changes on Tuesday, April 12. Cllr King told the committee that he was “hopeful but impatient” that more regulation could be brought in across the UK to reduce the amount of waste manufacturers produce, particularly on black plastic food trays.
He said: “Westminster has spoken about extending producer responsibility for an awfully long time and I have thrown various hissy steps, because one of the reasons why we struggle to recycle black plastic food trays is when they go along a black rubber conveyor belt, the photoelectric [sensor] can’t see them.
“I said years ago why in god’s name can’t we put a levy on black plastic food trays so that the manufacturers put some silver sparkles or sequins on. Because the greatest thing that Wales has done in recent years was to put a 10p levy on disposable carrier bags.
“In my years of litter picking there’s one thing I can tell you: there are far fewer plastic carrier bags in the trees because people either value them and reuse them or take a conventional bag instead. So it can be done, and I’m hopeful but impatient.”
Vale of Glamorgan is currently the second highest council area in Wales for recycling rates, behind only Pembrokeshire. The council will consult the public over three months in the summer on its new recycling strategy, covering major upgrades during the next decade.
Most of the Vale switched to separating recycling at the kerbside either in 2019 or 2020. Upcoming changes to recycling in the Vale include the potential option of allowing residents to recycle batteries and small electric items at the kerbside. By 2027, the council is hoping to roll out new bin lorries powered by electric batteries or hydrogen.
Another plan is a replacement household waste recycling centre in Llandow, which currently suffers from poor access. The council is hoping to buy land for a new centre at the Vale Business Park, almost four times the size of the current site. Councillor Gwyn John, leader of the Llantwit First group, welcomed the recycling changes, particularly the new recycling centre.
He said: “It’s a really exciting future for waste in the Vale and I can’t wait for the Llandow site to start, because we have had so many problems with the current site. There are so many people complaining to us, and it’s bringing us huge grief regularly. I am absolutely delighted it’s moving to the business park and I’m sure it’ll be a great success.”
A new recycling plant is under construction in Barry, at the Atlantic Trading Estate. The plant will process separated recycling from Barry, Penarth and other parts of the eastern Vale, and should open just before the kerbside sort changes are rolled out this autumn. The plant is being built next to the household recycling centre, and will also include a new reuse shop.
Cllr King thanked residents for efforts to adapt to the new recycling changes, helping the Vale of Glamorgan reach the second best recycling rate in Wales and "possibly the known universe".
He said: "I want to place on record my sincere appreciation to Vale residents, particularly those who have adopted to the [changes], because it is a little bit onerous."
