No plans to introduce 4 weekly bin collections in Flintshire

Flintshire council has no plans to follow Conwy in introducing monthly bin collections.

Conwy council hit the headlines when it decided to bring in the controversial black bin collections earlier this year, becoming the first council in Wales to do so.

But when asked, no other councils in the region said they have plans to follow their example anytime soon.

Conwy will roll the scheme out across the county in September after a successful trial saw recycling rates go from 14% to 31% for the 10,600 households that had four weekly black bin collections last year.

The scheme is also expected to save the council £390,000 a year.

Steve Jones, Flintshire County Council Chief Officer Streetscene and Transportation said: “The Council has no plans to introduce 4 weekly collections in Flintshire.”

One of the councils, Wrexham, is reviewing how it runs its waste management.

Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport at Wrexham, said: “Last year, as part of the Difficult Decisions consultation in preparation for the 2018/19 Budget, we noted that we would undertake a review of our waste collection service. We are still identifying the next steps needed to improve our recycling service and reducing waste.”

An Isle of Anglesey County Council spokesperson said: “Ynys Môn is currently one of the best recycling authorities in Wales with the three weekly collection being very successful. At present, we are happy to continue the current service. Any changes in the future will depend on Welsh Government’s recycling targets and financial pressure.”

A spokesman for Denbighshire council said: “We currently have no plans to implement four weekly collections in Denbighshire.”

But they then added that they were looking at how Conwy’s changes worked.

“As you would expect from a forward thinking council, officers are modelling the benefits and potential cost savings that might be achieved by different service delivery models, and this includes the options to change to either three or four weekly residual waste collection. We are also actively monitoring the evidence that is being generated by the work of local authorities across the UK in relation to the frequency of residual waste collection.”

Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “At present, Gwynedd Council provides weekly recycling and food waste collections, fortnightly garden waste collections and three-weekly household waste collections.

“We have no plans at present to introduce four weekly household waste collections, but will monitor arrangements in neighbouring counties that plan to introduce such changes and discuss how changes are being implemented.”

By: Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporting Service