Taxpayers to be asked whether they’d support reduction in bin collections under waste consultation

Taxpayers in Flintshire are set to be asked whether they’d support having their bins collected less often as part of a review of waste services.

Senior councillors have approved a major consultation on how rubbish is dealt with in the county as they look to try and boost recycling figures.

Currently black bins are collected by Flintshire Council on a fortnightly basis, compared to three or four weekly collections in some parts of North Wales.

Officials in Flintshire said they had no formal plans to follow suit at present, but are asking residents how such a move would impact them as part of the exercise.

Speaking at a meeting of the ruling administration held today, the authority’s deputy leader said members of the public were already helping to achieve high recycling rates.

However, Labour’s Carolyn Thomas said it would be difficult to achieve further improvements without changes to the waste service.

She said: “It’s been confirmed for 2018/19 that we’ve achieved a high-performance rate of 69 per cent, which is above the target of 64 per cent so we’re doing really well in Flintshire.

“However, we have reached a cross roads and from next year we need to do a round review to incorporate new developments and also the transportation of residual waste to Parc Adfer.

“It’s often highlighted we’re out of line with other authorities that are looking at less frequent waste collections.

“We have pressure from campaign groups which is growing daily, and I receive e-mails regarding recycling different products.

“We need to have a long-term plan for waste collections and so I propose we go out to a consultation.”

Reducing the frequency of collections is one of a number of scenarios included in the consultation, which received the unanimous backing of cabinet members.

Other possibilities highlighted include stricter enforcement against people who put recyclable items in their black bins and reducing the size of containers.

The consultation will take place over a period of five weeks starting from tomorrow and residents are being encouraged to take part via a survey on the council’s website.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).