Currently, the council collects blue recycling bags and black residual waste bags on the same day on alternate weeks.
Carmarthenshire becomes the seventh Welsh council to collect residual waste every three weeks, according to Welsh Government data, joining Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion, Gwynedd, the Isle of Anglesey, Pembrokeshire and Powys. Residents will be allowed to put out up to three black bags at a time.
The council joins most Welsh authorities in collecting recycling weekly, with Swansea council the only one still to offer a fortnightly service, the Welsh Government data shows.
Carmarthenshire is also introducing a new collection service for glass bottles and jars, which will be collected in black boxes by separate vehicles every three weeks.
Cllr Edward Thomas, Carmarthenshire’s cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services, said: “People may ask why we have changed how often we collect their black bags. This is because, on average, almost half of the contents put in black bags are recyclable, therefore there is still a lot more that we can do to reduce our waste.
“By collecting your blue bags more often, and by collecting even more items that can be recycled such as glass, hygiene and nappy waste, you’ll have less non-recyclable waste to put out to be collected.”
The council is to deliver residents’ black boxes for glass recycling and a free year’s supply of blue bags and food waste liners for brown kitchen caddies between now and 20 January.
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire county council manages waste through its own company, CWM Environmental.
Representing an estimated population of more than 187,000, the council had a recycling rate of 63% in the 2021/22 financial year.
Each Carmarthenshire resident produced 433kg of waste on average in 2021/22, with 165kg of this being residual waste.
Carmarthenshire will continue to collect food waste weekly and offer a chargeable garden waste service between March and November. This service sees garden waste collected fortnightly via a 240-litre wheelie bin and costs £45.
A bulky household waste service is also available, with furniture, small and large waste electrical and electronic equipment and mattresses collected from the kerbside for a charge of £25 for up to three items.
And, Carmarthenshire launched a new collection service for households to recycle their nappies in purple bags instead of putting them in with residual waste in June (see letsrecycle.com story).
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