886 tonnes of black bag waste diverted from disposal

In the six weeks since Carmarthenshire County Council introduced changes to its kerbside waste collections, the county has seen a significant improvement in its recycling performance.

When comparing January and February 2023 to the previous year, there has been an 886-tonne reduction in black bag waste collected at the kerbside. 

Whilst the amount of waste destined for disposal has reduced drastically, an extra 148 tonnes of nappy waste, 282 tonnes of blue bags - dry recycling, and 93 tonnes of food waste have been collected for recycling by the authority.

The Council has also collected 388 tonnes of glass from the kerbside.

On January 23, Carmarthenshire County Council changed its waste and recycling collection service. Blue bags, for dry recycling, are now collected every week, alongside the green bin for food waste.

Black bags, for remaining household waste that cannot be recycled, is now collected every 3 weeks and each household may put out up to 3 black bags every 3 weeks.

Since these changes, some residents have had their collection dates changed. For further information about these changes, or to sign up to receive email or text message reminders for your collection days, please visit Carmarthenshire County Council website or call us on 01267 234567 (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6pm).

Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services, Cllr. Edward Thomas said: “I would like to say a big thank you to all our residents for coming with us on this journey to improve the county’s recycling performance.

“In the six weeks since we’ve improved our recycling services, we have recycled more nappies, more food waste and more dry recyclable waste. In total, we have recycled an extra 523 tonnes and prevented 886 tonnes of waste from going to disposal.

“In addition to this, since we started to collect glass from people’s homes in late January, we have collected 388 tonnes of glass, which is the energy saving equivalent to power a hospital for ten days.

“The changes over the past six weeks have been challenging and I would like to thank those residents that have been patient with us whilst we have adjusted our service to them.

“As I have said previously, this is a step in the right direction to improve the wellbeing of Carmarthenshire, its residents and its future generations.”

For further information about the changes to waste and recycling collection or if you wish to sign up for our free hygiene and nappy waste collections, please visit the Council’s website.

Please remember to place your waste out for collection before 6am on your collection days.