Cardiff: wheelie bins and the failing recycling system

The What, How and Why of Cardiff’s waste system

Waste and waste disposal is a controversial issue in Cardiff.

Two thirds of the city were introduced to the wheelie bin system four years ago.

Canton, Adamsdown, Penylan and Roath are the only areas which are yet to progress to the wheelie bin scheme. They will not be considered for another year. Of the 20,996 homes in the city’s 10 wards, only a third will remain on black, green and white bags after the latest expansion.

Click on the links below to see how the latest changes affect your area:

Butetown Cathays Gabalfa Grangetown Llandaff Llandaff North Riverside Splott Tongwynlais Whitchurch

The calendar for the new system. Click for an enlarged image.

Why the change?

The simple answer is because of pressure from the EU to increase recycling rates.

Councils are being pushed to recycle more by the EU’s 1999 Recycling Directive, the intention is to persuade residents to produce less rubbish. The directive states that Britain must cut the amount of waste that it sends to landfill to 35 per cent of its 1995 level by 2020. If the government fails then it faces a fine of £180million a year.

So, to force councils to recycle more, ministers introduced a landfill tax, currently £32 per tonne of waste sent to landfill. This costs Britons £25 per household per annum, and raises around £500million every year. In addition, Westminster has given each council an allowance of waste that can be sent to landfill. If councils don’t meet their targets, they have to pay an additional penalty of £180 a tonne. In short, councils are being forced to re-address the way they process and dispose of their waste.

Several councils have introduced fortnightly bin collections which they claim reduces the amount of waste each household produces. The bins are not huge and often people cannot fit in all their refuse. The council hopes this will encourage people to reduce the amount of rubbish they produce.

Councils have also introduced a wide range of voluntary and compulsory recycling arrangements, often requiring a series of different bins for different materials.

As a result, the levels of recycling throughout Britain have improved rapidly; of the 28 million tonnes of waste collected in England every year, 54% is buried in landfill, 34% is recycled and 11% incinerated. Raising recycling rates is not necessarily as good as it seems. It means, in order to hit targets, governments resort to collecting recycling but then shipping it abroad.

In September 2007 an internet blogger called Luther ap Blissett claimed: “Recycling industry insiders have revealed that Cardiff residents’ waste, which is picked up all in one bag without being separated, ends up far too mixed and contaminated to be recycled effectively.” The blogger continued by accusing the council of shipping the majority of its recycling for processing abroad.

A Cardiff Council spokesman responded “Only 5% of what we produce goes to the world market. High grade paper is sent to a reputable paper mill in Europe. The reason why it doesn’t go to UK paper mills is that a policy decision has been made not to accept paper from commingled recycling streams.”

If you have any queries about the new system call Cardiff Council’s bin helpline on: 029 2087 2087

What do the people of Cardiff think about the new wheelie bins?

Landfill tax

Landfill tax is one of the key methods employed by the government to enable the UK to meet its targets set out in the Landfill Directive for the land-filling of bio-degradable waste.

Cardiff county council has issued strict guidelines for its waste disposal:

Cardiff County Council’s waste policy Cardiff County Council’s waste disposal strategy

By increasing the cost of landfill, other advanced waste treatment technologies which are more expensive become financially viable. Landfill tax in the United Kingdom has risen at a rate of £3 per tonne every year since April 2001. Currently, the Landfill tax stands at £24.00 and will continue to rise each year.  By the 2010/2011 financial year, a level of £48 a tonne will be reached.

In 2007/08 Cardiff alone produced 198,000 tonnes of municipal waste. The cost of burying waste in the ground increases every year as the landfill tax grows. Viridor is to appeal the decision taken by Cardiff Council’s planning committee to refuse planning permission for its proposed Energy from Waste Combined Heat and Power facility at Trident Park .

The Future?

Increasing the rates of recycling in the UK is a wonderful ideal. Attempting this by setting targets makes the whole process more complicated. Governments should not be able to reach their targets by collecting recycling and paying someone else to recycle it. It negates the point of collecting it in the first place. Wheelie bins are a valiant attempt to reduce our levels of refuse but it is my opinion that more needs to be done on the recycling front. It seems a little ridiculous to attempt to increase our recycling levels by reducing how much rubbish we produce rather than improving our recycling system.

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