Welsh Government waives £540,000 in Flintshire recycling fines
More than £540,000 in Welsh Government fines against Flintshire County Council for missing recycling targets have been dropped, after the council switched to three-weekly black bin collections.
The fines totalled £356,279 for 2022/23 and £184,340 for 2023/24. They had been imposed by Welsh Government after Flintshire fell short of statutory recycling targets in those years.
A separate £663,000 infraction fine relating to 2021/22 was dismissed earlier.
The council attributed the improvement to its new Resource and Waste Strategy for 2024-2030 and the move to three-weekly collections of non-recyclable black bin waste in April 2025.
Other changes included a new ‘visible waste’ process at Flintshire’s Household Recycling Centres and ongoing work to raise awareness of recycling.
Early indications suggest the council has achieved the statutory 70% recycling target for 2025/26, up from 63% the year before, although final figures are still subject to verification.
Flintshire is also hopeful that a further fine for missing the 2024/25 target, potentially worth around £960,000 based on Welsh Government’s £200 per tonne infraction rate, will also be waived if the 70% rate is confirmed.
Katie Wilby, Flintshire County Council’s Chief Officer for Streetscene and Transportation, said: “We are pleased that the significant progress made in our recycling performance across Flintshire has been recognised by Welsh Government through removal of these fines.”
She added: “Our focus has been on delivering meaningful, long-term change to move Flintshire towards a more circular economy.”
“While there is still work to do, these results demonstrate the positive impact of the changes we have made and the efforts of our communities, and we would like to thank residents for their ongoing support,” she said.
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