New kerbside-sort recycling scheme to be expanded in Cardiff

CARDIFF Council’s new kerbside-sort recycling scheme is being expanded to a further 5,000 properties across the city.

It is hoped that the move will help improve the quality of recycling across the city and help the local authority meet its recycling target, which is set by the Welsh Government.

Specific properties in eight wards across the city will receive the new service and those residents will be notified next week.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Cllr Caro Wild, said: “We need to move to a more circular economy where instead of using materials once and then throwing them away, we re-use and re-manufacture materials.

“This would not only be far better for the planet but create green jobs as we re-manufacture and re-purpose these materials locally.

“So far the residents involved in the trials have been brilliant, and their valuable feedback is being used to improve the system as we grow it.”

The new reusable containers are:

A red sack for plastic and cans
A blue sack for paper and cardboard
A blue caddy for glass bottles and jars
The new recycling method has already been trialled in four wards and the council’s aim is to roll it out city-wide over the next two years.

The authority said the contamination rate – items that are put out for recycling, but in fact cannot be recycled – has reduced from 30% to 6% in the trial areas.

The 5,000 properties being added to the scheme are in Heath West, Grangetown, Splott, Rhiwbina, Radyr, Llandaff, Pentwyn and Trowbridge.

There will also be a small number of properties within the council’s rural collection rounds, which span across a number of areas.

Residents that are part of the rollout will receive a letter outlining the new service.

The new containers will be delivered from November 7, with a detailed leaflet explaining how to use them.

Council staff will be out and about to engage with residents about the scheme and answer any questions they may have.

New purpose-built vehicles will be used in these trials, with separate compartments to store the different recyclable items, so they are separated at source rather than through a secondary sorting process.

Residents that are part of the expanded scheme will have their last collection of green bags in the week commencing November 21, with the first collection of recycling in their reusable sacks in the week commencing November 28.