Passing Comment: Look at what works around Wales when it comes to waste collection –
By Sue Vincent Jones.
Well, just when you thought it was safe to swing your black bin bags with swag every fortnight, the Vale Council may move to three-weekly collections.
Our local authority’s long list of money saving measures include proposals to lengthen the pick-up time of our refuse.
Not sure how I feel about this to be honest. It seems to make sense as surely people will recycle more, and those who did anyway will do even better.
Truth be told, I’ve been doing a bit of rather fancy house renovation lately and have had copious amounts of rubbish all tied up in those brilliant Beast bin bags, which I have been dutifully trundling over to the recycling centre every Sunday.
I’ve also, on occasion, paid a well-known local firm to pick up my rubbish and dispose of it ethically – that was worth every penny. Let’s all pause a minute whilst I polish my environmental halo!
To be honest, I just didn’t fancy bin bags of waste hanging around the house either and it would have taken me until Christmas…2024 to do two at a time.
But what about those less resilient residents, who can’t, or won’t cut their black bag contents. And those with the additional bag allowance are going to have double the trouble.
Will we see a fly-tipping frenzy with bin bags left simmering on our streets or casually chucked randomly up our street and alleys?
Research says not, and I’m confident that our cracking Barry community are bigger and better that that. But I do have a few suggestions for the Vale Council to soften the switch – which I have nicked from a fellow Welsh local authority who did the same.
How about weekly nappy collections; free bulky waste collection; mobile recycling centres; second bins for larger families; extra recycling containers; and a special assistance service.
Sounds super doesn’t it and pt worked well in Conwy apparently.
Bulky collection costing twenty-five quid, and that needs to booked weeks in advance, is a definite barrier.
And the final three initiatives can only see our recycling rates rise.
I’ve got one of my own too – the scrapping of pre-booked appointments at our main centres.
Trust us to just nip over when we want rather than be stuck with draconian rules – pesky pandemic rules that some public sector places, and local businesses, can’t seem to cease.
What do you think?
- The views expressed by columnists of this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Glamorgan Star, its employees or its proprietors
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