Caerphilly County Borough Council have outlined plans to boost recycling rates and create a greener county borough in line with Welsh Government targets.

Local authorities are required to meet strict Welsh Government recycling targets and Caerphilly is working hard to ensure it reaches the current target of 70%, as well as even higher rates for the coming years.

Caerphilly had historically performed well achieving 66.7% recycling in 2017-18 but has since declined with a projected recycling rate of 60.76% for 2022-23.

The Council has outlined a seven-year route map to ensure Caerphilly meets and exceeds statutory performance targets. The route map also highlights a number of “pillar projects” which have been identified as immediate interventions, anticipated to increase recycling performance. These pillar projects include:

Household Recycling Centre provisions – This includes plans to improve site signage and layout, improve customer service and engagement, as well as the introduction of a pre-sort requirement and the potential for a trial booing system.
Kerbside dry recycling – A widespread campaign will be launched informing residents how and why to recycle creating strong foundations for behaviour change.
Kerbside organic recycling – Work will continue to highlight the benefits of organic recycling through initiatives such as the Mash for Cash campaign and will also introduce a 12-month trail of free caddy liners.
Kerbside residual – The Council will continue to engage with residents regarding existing residual waste policies for example top hatting (bags stacked on top of the bin) and side waste.
Trade service – Existing services will be reviewed to ensure the residual trade waste service is competitive.

The Council currently offer a free weekly dry recycling and organic recycling collection service for all residents, however analysis performed by WRAP Cymru indicates that approximately 50% of Caerphilly’s general waste contains recyclable materials, including 9,000 tonnes of food waste.

Leader of council, Cllr. Sean Morgan said, “We appreciate that many residents are already working with us every week to recycle as much as possible, but more needs to be done, which is why communication with our residents will be at the forefront of this route map.

“Whilst our dry recycling participation rate is high, unfortunately contamination of both recycling bins and residual bins, along with lack of participation of organic recycling is negatively affecting our overall recycling rates.

“Over the coming months residents can expect to receive resources explaining how to recycle effectively and why participation is so important.”

“In the meantime we are asking residents to check the permitted materials for the dry recycling, this list is available on our website www.caerphilly.gov.uk/what-goes-in-my-bins and also participate in food waste recycling. To order a free food waste caddy visit: https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/food-waste or call 01443 866533”

Cllr Chris Morgan, Cabinet Member for Waste, Leisure and Green Spaces said, “We have challenging national recycling targets set by Welsh Government, however Caerphilly once had one of the best recycling rates in Wales and I believe that we can be the best again.

“The route map and pillar projects have been designed to increase participation by improving our service operations and working proactively with residents in an effort to protect our environment now and in the future.”

An updated draft strategy will be developed for consideration by a Joint Scrutiny committee and decision by Cabinet late Autumn 2023. If agreed, public consultation will commence at the beginning of 2024.