Newport City Council is set to introduce three-weekly bin collections in the coming months despite concerns it will lead to increased fly-tipping. The council announced in March that household rubbish and garden waste bins, which are currently collected every two weeks, will move to three weekly collections.
The council is introducing the changes to help it meet its recycling targets, which it says could lead to large fines if it fails to do so. It has also warned of major budget pressures this year, which has led to some service cuts and an 8.5% council tax increase. You can read more about that here.
While council officials have attempted to ease concerns over the new changes, some have criticised the decision, which they claim could lead to increased fly-tipping in the city and make it difficult for households manage their rubbish. Many councils including Cardiff, Blaenau Gwent and Carmarthenshire have already announced similar changes, while Torfaen was earlier this year forced to abandon a similar plan after backlash from locals.
No date has yet been set for the full roll-out of three-weekly collections, but they will apply to all residents in the council area by the end of the year after an initial phased approach. Here is everything you need to know about three-weekly bin collections in Newport including who it will apply to, what changes will be taking place and when they might happen.
What is happening to bin collections in Newport?
Under the new rules, household rubbish bins and garden waste bins will be collected once every three weeks. Currently these are collected once every two weeks. Other waste services will remain unchanged. This means that recycling and food waste will continue to be collected weekly, and hygiene bags will be collected fortnightly.
Small changes will be made to recycling containers which will help residents to recycle more of their waste, including:
- New blue bags for cardboard and paper. This will be bigger than the current blue box, which the bag will replace, giving residents more recycling capacity.
- Glass and electricals will be collected in the green box.
- Residents will be asked to bag textiles separately.
- Residents will also be able to order more recycling containers if needed.
These changes will be introduced in the coming months before the move to three-weekly collections. No exact date has been set.
Why are bin collection timings changing?
Newport City Council says it has introduced the changes to collections to help it meet its recycling targets. Currently the council is recycling around 67% of waste it collects. To meet Welsh Government targets, it says this needs to increase to 70% by 2024/25. Failure to meet this target will see the council liable for fines. At the current recycling rate, the council said its fine from April 2025 would be in excess of £500,000 per year.
When will this start?
No date has yet been set for the full roll-out of the new collection cycle but it is expected to happen in the autumn. However, a first phase will take place in the spring. The council said this would give it the best information possible about how the new arrangements work ahead of the full rollout.
The first phase will take place in around 12,100 households. A mix of streets and a mix of households has been selected from across the city, but these have not yet been confirmed. Residents whose streets have been selected for the first phase will be notified directly as to when the changes will take place and what to expect. All other Newport residents will then receive information on the changes later in the year before they come into effect. The council will also make resources and assistance available for anyone who needs help.
Why is this controversial?
The decision to have less frequent collections has drawn some criticism from residents and local questioning whether it could lead to an increase in fly-tipping and difficulties for larger households in managing their rubbish. Speaking to WalesOnline this week Matthew Evans, Newport Conservative Party leader, said the changes were "completely unacceptable" and asked why other alternatives had not been considered by the council.
"A lot of my constituents are still really angry about it," he said. "I understand the need for increasing recycling rates but they need to be targeted at flats and communal areas that don't recycle at all, not at keen recyclers.
"The one that's really galling is the garden bins. It's going to cause confusion, especially in the summer months when the grass is growing. How does that encourage recycling? I know there are certain items which you will have to put in certain bins too, which is also confusing."
A Welsh Government report in October 2022 found Newport saw a whopping 87% increase in fly-tipping incidents from April 2021 to March 2022 compared to the same period the previous year - the biggest rise of any area in Wales. But despite this, the council rejected calls to scrap its rubbish tip's booking system, which was introduced during the pandemic.
Mr Evans said he would personally manage with the new collection cycle but said this was unlikely to be the case for others. "It's going to be tough if you miss a collection. You can't phone up the recycling centre either, it has to be online or from the library, which penalises older people.
"I will manage but it's different for larger families. They say they aren't expecting an increase in fly-tipping, but the temptation for people on Facebook who say they can collect your rubbish will be there for residents if they are struggling, even if it isn't their fault.
"There are areas with communal buildings that don't have the required recycling facilities and that needs to be looked at. Even down to the bins distributed around the city - they don't have separate recycling, it all goes into one. Those are two simple things you can do to improve recycling."
Councillor Yvonne Forsey, cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity, said: "Although Newport is one of the best performing cities in the UK in terms of our recycling rate, we still have work to do if we are to meet future Welsh government recycling targets.
“These important changes will enable us to meet that target while still delivering a comprehensive waste collection service for residents. I would urge residents to make use of all of the waste collection services available to them, and to contact us if they need any support or advice around the changes.”
What is happening in other parts of Wales?
A growing number of local councils in Wales are now rolling out less frequent bin collections. Rhondda Cynon Taf, Denbighshire and Flintshire have all announced a switch to three-weekly collections this year while in Conwy collections are every four weeks. Cardiff has approved plans to trial changing non-recyclable waste collections from once every two weeks to once every three weeks.
Overall, there are ten authorities out of 22 in Wales which collect bins at least every three weeks, despite plenty of controversy. In February 2023 council leaders in Blaenau Gwent said collections would not change to every four weeks after the idea was suggested in a previous council meeting.
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