WASTE collections could be moved to every three weeks in Newport as part of the city council’s plans to save money.

The proposals featured in the draft budget, for which the consultation ended on Thursday, February 2, as the council looks to make up a budget gap of £27.6 million.

The move to three-weekly collections was branded a “joke” by our readers - however, similar schemes have been in place in other areas across Wales for several years. We looked at some of them to see how they had fared.

In Gwynedd, household waste has been collected on a three-weekly basis since 2015.

“Over the years, we have seen a clear increase in the county's recycling performance, with recycling levels having more than doubled from around 30 per cent in 2007/08, reaching the Welsh Government's latest target of 64 per cent in 2019/20,” said a Cyngor Gwynedd spokesperson.

“This improvement came about after the introduction of more frequent recycling collections for Gwynedd households, the reduction in the frequency of residual waste collections, and the development of a network of recycling centres across the county.”

Closer to home, residents in Blaenau Gwent have had their black bins collected every three weeks since 2015.

Prior to that decision, residents raised concerns over whether this would lead to more vermin, and over receiving fewer collections for the council tax they paid.  

However the council said at the time the change needed to be made to avoid being fined by the Welsh Government for not meeting recycling targets.

A council spokesperson said: “This was a significant change for residents and took some time to bed in.

“However, residents are now accustomed to this cycle and we have seen a substantial increase in the amount of waste now being recycled, going from 48 per cent in 2015/16 to 68 per cent in quarter two of 2022/23.”

Since 2018, residents in Conwy have had their household waste collected every four weeks.

“Since the change, we now collect 31 per cent less black bin waste and recycling rates have increased. Food recycling has increased by 30 per cent,” said a council spokesperson.

“In fact, Conwy’s residents are already recycling 70 per cent of their waste (The Welsh Government target is 70 per cent recycling by 2024/25).

“We introduced a number of initiatives to support the service, including weekly nappy collections; free bulky waste collection; mobile recycling centres; second bins for larger families; extra recycling containers; and a special assistance service, all supported by communication and education.

“People who were once not recycling are now recycling; people who were already recycling are now recycling more, and people look after their containers.”

Three-weekly collections started in Conwy in September 2016, while a trial of four-weekly collections involving 10,000 households began at the same time.

A council spokesperson said the trial led to residents recycling more and reducing the amount of rubbish in wheelie bins by almost a third.

“The four-weekly trial found that an increase in fly tipping just did not happen,” they said.

“The typical fly-tipped waste – bulky items such as mattresses, tyres, white goods, chairs and sofas – are most often items that wouldn’t fit in a wheelie bin. Bulky waste can be taken to the recycling centres.”

Similar plans are current under consideration in the Vale of Glamorgan.