New Waste Collection Service Helps To Improve Recycling Rates

This Autumn, Anglesey Council introduced a new waste collection service to recycle a much wider range of items than before ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This Autumn, Anglesey Council introduced a new waste collection service to recycle a much wider range of items than before. Every quarter recycling rates are monitored and calculated. Since using the new waste collection system Anglesey Residents are recycling more than ever. The latest recycling rates show an increase of 12% to 65.6% of household waste being recycled. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The new waste collection system introduced across Anglesey is proving a success with Anglesey residents recycling more than ever. Every three months, councils across Wales assess and report their recycling rates to show they are making progress to hitting tough recycling targets. The most recent figures show that Anglesey residents have recycled 12% more of their household waste between October and January than they did in the previous year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The new system allows residents to recycle much more than before including a wide range of plastics and we can see why Anglesey residents are some of the best recyclers in Wales when we look at the most recent recycling rates. In the previous year, between October and January, the recycling rate was just over 53%, but this year it has climbed to an impressive 65.6% with the introduction of the new collection system,” said Councillor John Arwel Roberts, Anglesey’s Highways, Waste and Property Portfolio Holder. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The recycling figures show that residents are also throwing less things away with the amount of waste in their black rubbish bin deceasing by 24%. This corresponds with an increase in the amount of food waste being recycled. “Food waste recycling has risen by over a third and we think this is because more people think twice about putting food waste in their black rubbish bin now it is emptied once every three weeks. The decrease in the amount of things being put in the black rubbish bin is higher than the recycling rate telling us that residents are also reducing the amount of things they throw away, re-using them instead,” suggests Elin Owen, Principal Waste Management Officer. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The increased recycling rates mean that Anglesey continues to meet the challenging recycling targets that have been set by the Welsh Government. Anglesey recycled 59.5% of its rubbish last year meeting the 58% target. The target rises to 64% in 2019 and early figures suggest the new collection system will help Anglesey Residents to reach it. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​