Flintshire Council’s cabinet agrees three-weekly black bin collection pilot

Flintshire Council’s cabinet has agreed three-weekly black bin collections will be piloted in an area of the county. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The details of the pilot, such as where in the county it will take place and the resources required to run it have yet to be ironed out. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

But with the threat of a Welsh Government fine looming over the authority for failing to hit targets – currently 70 per cent recycling – members of the cabinet felt they had little choice but to implement the recommendation which came from Environment scrutiny last week, along with providing more education and communication to residents – to trial three-weekly collection. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

At the meeting, Caergwrle Cllr Dave Healey (Lab) queried how the success of the pilot would be measured. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Chief officer for Streetscene Katie Wilby said there would be a logistical challenge with one-round running on a three-weekly cycle, and everywhere else fortnightly, but officers were looking at how that challenge could be managed. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

In terms of monitoring the impact of the pilot, she added: “It would be relative. We would have to take a view whether recycling had increased on all of our rounds and has residual waste decreased on all of the rounds.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Mold East Cllr Chris Bithell (Lab) said he felt the county’s previous high levels of recycling pre-pandemic was encouraging, and that with education and campaigning they could be achieved again. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Lead member for Streetscene, Llanfynydd Cllr Dave Hughes added: “Carrying on the way we were going, we were never going to meet the targets. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

“Running a pilot in a small area may actually give us the blueprint for how we achieve that. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

“Education is crucial to how we try and get these targets. Better to run a small pilot than do it all in one go. We know the tonnages we’re getting from different rounds so we pick one of those and we see with a concerted effort how much we can lower that target.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The pilot idea was also supported by leader of the council, Flint Castle Cllr Ian Roberts who confirmed there would be no reduction in council tax as a result. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

He said: “You may have seen some of the comments on social media asking ‘are we going to get a reduction if we’re getting a reduction in service’ – well no, because there is a potential reduction in service because recycling isn’t being done. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

“It certainly isn’t being done as it was at one point when we were doing particularly well so that possible infraction fine this year will become a considerable sum of money.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Cllr Roberts said a marker of who is and is not recycling is whether people put their recycling out with their residual waste bins. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Members opted to pilot a three-weekly collection in one area of the county. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

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