A GWENT council is not expecting to hit the 70 per cent Welsh Government recycling target, councillors and independent lay members have been told.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Governance and Audit committee on Wednesday, October 9 members went through the council’s draft annual performance self-assessment for 2023/2024.

The document shows that between April and June last year the council met the recycling target, with 70.11 per cent – but this dropped off to 66.99 per cent, 61.91 per cent and 65.42 per cent over the following quarters.

The self assessment says that the council’s annual recycling rate has dropped from 66.78 per cent in 2022/2023 to 66.18 per cent for 2023/2024 – although it states that this figure has not been verified yet by Welsh Government environment body, Natural Resources Wales.

Lay member, Martin Veale said: “If we don’t meet the target there’s potentially a fine to come.

“I wonder whether there are any current stats to indicate whether we are likely to meet the target or not.”

Director of regeneration and community services, Ellie Fry said: “We’re pretty certain we’re unlikely to hit 70 per cent at the moment.”

Neighbourhood services manager Matthew Stent said that will be bringing a report on last year’s recycling performance to the Place scrutiny committee which meets later this month.

Mr Stent said: “Indications for this year is that we’re just shy of that 70 per cent for quarters one and two.”

He said that there had been an improvement on last year’s figures but warned members that the council usually saw a “dip” in recycling performance between October and the end of December.

Mr Stent said: “Which will have a negative impact on our overall annual performance.”

“It’s only right for us to point out, along with a lot of other local authorities we are unlikely to achieve 70 per cent this year.”

He added that the council is already drafting it’s next recycling strategy which will be ready for next year.

Mr Stent said: “That document will set out what actions and decisions need to be made in order for us to take those next steps.”

It is expected Welsh Government will start fining local authorities, £200 for every tonne under the 70 per cent target from this year onwards.

The self-assessment is a legal document which is explains how a local authority in Wales is performing against a set of goals that it has given itself in a corporate plan.

The committee noted the report.