Your new friendly neighbourhood recycling advisors are here to help!
It is a big year for recycling! All councils must reach at least 64% recycling of their household waste to avoid penalties from Welsh Government. Thanks to the commitment and hard work of the waste collection crews, recycling officers and members of the public, Denbighshire has hit this target for several years now – but each year it’s getting harder because the weight of easily recyclable waste in our rubbish is getting less and less. Manufacturers are making glass and plastic bottles lighter and the electronic age has lessened the demand for printed material. This means we have to work harder to capture other recyclable everyday items that are thrown away. In a bid to secure at least 64% recycling this year we have recruited three extra recycling advisors.
Since July, Katie (left), Ryan (centre) and Paul (right) have been visiting households where we know residents are confused about which bin to put their rubbish in or are not currently recycling much at all. They join an experienced team of three other officers to offer advice around collection times and storage, check households have the right sized containers and help people understand which bin to use for different kinds of rubbish.
We also have 10,000 food waste caddies to give out over the next 2 years to make sure everyone is recycling their food waste. A quarter of the black residual bin (by weight) is unwanted food, despite our weekly food waste kerbside collection service being available to most households across the county.
We are the third best local authority area in Wales for the amount of food waste we collect thanks to the efforts of so many dedicated Denbighshire recyclers. But we need everyone to go that extra mile to make sure none of their food waste is put in the black bin. There is still too much unopened food waste being thrown away in the black bin, meaning the food or its packaging are wasted when they could have been separated for recycling. Clean plastic, metal and card based packaging can usually be recycled into new products and food waste is turned into a soil fertilizer to help return valuable, much needed nutrients to our local soils. The process the food waste goes through also creates renewable energy. Our Anaerobic Digestion facility in St Asaph produces enough electricity to power more than 2000 homes.
If you produce food waste but don’t yet recycle it, please contact us straight away to arrange delivery of your free kitchen caddy, kerbside caddy and compostable liners. The Council has the legal powers to fine households who choose not to recycle, so it is important everyone has the containers they need to put household rubbish out for collection in the right way. You can complete an online form at any time via the Council’s website to request your food waste recycling kit, or call 01824 706000 during normal working hours.
There are a small number of households that we do not currently offer a food waste service to due to their remote rural location. However, funding from Welsh Government is being sought to enable these properties to be added to our food waste recycling service later this year.
