Caerphilly could face fines as recycling targets ‘definitely’ won’t be met

Local TV

Caerphilly County Council could face millions of pounds worth of fines over missed recycling targets. The authority have missed years worth of Welsh gov goals, so a £3.7 million bill could soon catch up with them.

Transcript

00:00Cofili is once again on course to miss its recycling targets, with councillors being

00:06warned the Welsh Government's 70% target for household waste won't be met this year.

00:12The county has one of the poorest recycling records in Wales and hasn't met the national

00:16target in any year since 2019. The latest figures show Cofili manages 60% in 2023-24,

00:23well below what's required. Bailing to meet those targets could see the councillor hit

00:27with fines running into the millions. At this point around £3.7 million in penalties have

00:32already been racked up, though the council says it's managed to avoid paying so far by convincing

00:38ministers it's working on a long-term fix. But the pressure is clearly mounting.

00:44Cabinet Members for Waste Services, Chris Morgan, said a Welsh Government Minister recently challenged

00:48the council to show them why they shouldn't fine you. One of the major proposals now on the table

00:54is cutting general waste collections from fortnightly to every three weeks, falling in line with other

00:59bordering authorities like Newport and Blina Gwent. The change, if approved, wouldn't happen until

01:04late 2027 or early 2028. Some councillors, though, have questioned the scale of the change.

01:11Pointing to modest improvements in food waste collections under the current system,

01:15one described the recycling process as easy and popular, and that's why it needed to change.

01:20The council officers were clear. Waste manager Hayley Jones said despite those small improvements,

01:26Coffili will definitely fall short of the 70% target again this year.

01:31A final decision is expected at a Cabinet meeting next month. The aim is to avoid those costly fines,

01:37but to do that, residents may need to get used to big changes. James Beach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

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