NEWPORT City Council is one of four Welsh councils to share a £3 million fund to help them meet recycling targets.

Under the grant, Newport will get £715,000 to improve equipment and upgrade a recycling depot.

In return Newport staff will have to ensure that they comply with requirements to separately collect paper, glass, metals and plastics.

Newport has sometimes struggled to meet recycling targets. For instance in in 2013-14, the statutory recovery target was 52 per cent. Newport’s total was just under this at 51.7 per cent. 

The other councils getting funding to help comply with the government’s ‘Collections Blueprint’ will be Flintshire, Neath Port Talbot and Wrexham. 

This year (2015-2016) is the first year that local authorities are required to meet a 58 per cent recycling target. All four authorities expect to meet this and future targets through the implementation of these changes which the £3 million will support.

The funding is part of the Collaborative Change Programme - a joint initiative between Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and comes as Recycling Week gets underway.

Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant said: “Thanks to the efforts of individuals and local authorities, Wales continues to lead the UK with its recycling performance and is the fourth best country in Europe at recycling.

“The recycling of waste is important to our economy and can result in additional jobs and training opportunities as more material is managed through re-processors and re-manufacturers.

“I am pleased to allocate a further £3 million of funding to local authority partners to help them meet future recycling targets and reduce service costs. As more local authorities adopt the collections blueprint there will be a more consistent universal service across Wales.”