Behind the headlines: Why does Blaenau Gwent have the worst recycling rate in Wales?

Recycling is one of the most talked about issues in Blaenau Gwent.

Walk down almost any street and residents will have a view on the system.

Although the borough has the lowest recycling rate in Wales, it is clear that improvements are being made.

The authority recycled 57 per cent of all the waste it collected last year, a significant improvement from the previous rate of 49 per cent in 2015/16. Although the borough is the only area in Wales not to meet the Welsh Government’s recycling target of 58 per cent, the rating means the authority was just one per cent behind Cardiff and Bridgend.

Changes to Blaenau Gwent’s recycling policy in 2015 sparked protests, petitions and ‘crisis meetings.’ The so-called “trolibocs” system caused outrage amongst residents, and has remained controversial.

However, speaking to residents in Ebbw Vale, it appears there are also other issues which are causing concern.

Eddie Lewis, 73, said he cannot understand why cardboard and glass is collected in the same container.

“It would make more sense to have cardboard and paper rather than cardboard and glass,” said Mr Lewis, of Park View in Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale.

He says he has a lot of cardboard to recycle, but little paper, therefore it would make sense to have the two together.

Mr Lewis said said garden waste is collected every week, but he rarely has enough to fill the two bags.

“I think it is too much every week. They are using a lot of vehicles. A fortnightly collection would be sufficient.”

Rita Hornyik, of Garden Street in Ebbw Vale, said collections have recently been changed from bags to boxes.

The move became the talk of the street, as several items which were previously recycled were no longer accepted.

Ms Hornyik said she liked the new idea, but that it had caused some problems.

The 34-year-old said there are several plastic items, such as fruit containers and plastic bags, which she would like to recycle, but instead has to put into the rubbish collection.

“Several people have had this issue,” she said.

“When the change was made, people would leave the items out but they would not be collected.”

However, several residents have praised the recycling system. Walad Ward, 77, who is blind, said the council gave him bags instead of boxes which are easier for him to carry. He said he has no issues with the system and finds it works well, as does Yasmine Dahal.

She said the system is easy to understand and runs smoothly.

Cllr Haydn Trollope (Labour), former executive member for environment, said improvements have been made.

“I believe we are on a journey which has started from a low base,” said Cllr Trollope.

“At the start the recycling system could have been set out better. When I took over, I realised that the public perception was wrong and we needed to improve public relations.

“I went out with the chief officer to meet the public to help understand the issues. I met people face to face to see what the problems are.”

Cllr Trollope said there have been a combination of reasons for the low recycling rate. He said one of the issues has been that some people have never previously recycled.

“We have to encourage people who have not recycled before,” added Cllr Trollope.

“Education is important. We have been in schools where pupils have been learning about the issue and they will hopefully then pass it on to their parents.”

One of the other problems has been that recycling lorries have been unable to access smaller lanes due to their size. Cllr Trollope said smaller lorries are set to be rolled out, which will help address the problem.

The Tredegar central and west Cllr pointed out that Blaenau Gwent has one of the “cleanest” recycling rates, with only a small proportion of recycling products rejected.

Cllr Dai Davies (Independent) said the recycling system needed to be made as “user-friendly” as possible. He said this included making it clear how and where recycling is collected.

Cllr Davies also said it was important for councillors from all parties to work together on the issue.

“I think we all appreciate how important recycling is and we need to all work together to make sure the targets are hit,” said Cllr Davies.

Cllr Davies said recycling needed to be examined alongside issues of littering and commercial waste.

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has said it will continue to work with residents to improve the recycling rate.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “There has been a significant improvement in the recycling rate in Blaenau Gwent between 2015/16 and 2016/17 with the recycling performance increasing from 49 per cent to 57 per cent in one year.

“The council was not fined in 2015/16 and it would be premature to comment on the possibility of future fines.

“Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council rolled out the new kerbside sort service in October 2015, and residents were given the option to utilise either the trolibocs system, loose boxes or hessian sacks.

“Just over half of the population are using the trolibocs system, and the option is still there for residents to swap receptacles.

“Because 75 per cent of household waste can be recycled using the weekly kerbside service, black bins collections have been reduced to every three weeks.

“Research confirms that reduced refuse collections encourages households to make full use of the convenient kerbside recycling collection services.

“The council is committed to helping residents to increase their recycling through a variety of methods, including home visits from the waste advisory wardens providing help and advice, information on our web pages and social media with hints and tips, and being present in the community providing help and advice. We would like to thank our residents for taking part and actively working with us to help to achieve the improvements that we have seen. We will continue to work with our residents to improve our recycling rate.”

A spokesman for the Welsh Government confirmed no action will be taken against Blaenau Gwent council at this stage for missing the recycling target, as the figures are provisional.

The Welsh Government has set statutory targets of recycling 58 per cent by 2016-17, 64 per cent by 2019-20 and 70 per cent of waste by 2024-25.

Environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy is running a clean-up campaign this month, September, and is calling on people to get involved. Jemma Bere, policy and research manager, said the charity was encouraged by recent efforts to improve recycling in Wales.