Cabinet has agreed proposals to standardise waste collections across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The agreed changes will see Black Bag collections standardised across ALL areas of the County Borough.
The agreed proposals are subject to the Council’s ‘Call-in’ procedure, which allows Elected Members to “call in” for examination a Cabinet decision that has been made but not yet implemented.
This means that you will need to place your general waste out for collection in a maximum of THREE standard size (70L) Black Bags ONLY (as per current allowance), EVERY THREE WEEKS starting from MONDAY 30th SEPTEMBER 2024.
This collection method has operated across a third of the County Borough (Rhondda) for over 30 years.
There will be;
- NO CHANGE to how often waste is collected, which will still be every 3 weeks,
- NO CHANGE to the maximum limit of 3 black bags per household,
- NO CHANGE to recycling collections,
- NO CHANGE to your collection day or time.
Residents CAN keep their wheelie bin for storage until collection, but Black bags will need to be taken out of the bins and put out for collection at the normal collection day, time, and location, which is usually at the kerbside.
The agreed standardisation of waste collections will ensure that:
- Improved recycling rates so that we hit the 70% Welsh Government Target.
- The Council can use its waste collection fleet more efficiently by having standardised vehicles across RCT, including the use of other smaller vehicles to collect black bags if larger collection lorries are not able to access a street due to parked cars.
- Residents and visitors will benefit from an improved streetscape, by removing the bins as obstructions in between collections from pavements:
- Residents will not have to wheel or carry wheelie bins through their homes or up and down garden steps.
Director of Highways, Streetcare and Transportation Services, said:
“The agreed standardised waste collection method for all residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf, something a number of residents asked for during the changes last year, will ensure that ALL residents have the same waste limits and removes the discrepancy that many residents felt unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged by.
“Waste in the Rhondda area has been collected in black bags only for over 30 years, and many residents in Cynon and Taf with 120L bins currently put a black bag of side waste out alongside their wheelie bin. The only thing changing for residents is that all waste needs to be placed on the kerbside in black bags.
“Data analysis of the introduction of Black Bag Collections for ALL appears to come with a range of potential benefits, including an improved streetscape with less obstructions, increased recycling rates and a more efficient waste service along with improved utilisation of the waste fleet and less impact on residents that have no option at present other than to bring their bins through their properties or up and down garden steps, etc., as bins should not be kept on the footway 24/7.
“It is estimated that Rhondda residents recycle over 20% more* and put out around 30% less* black bag waste. The approved standardisation of waste collections will now help us towards reaching the 70% Welsh Government recycling target by 2024/25 and avoid significant fines.”
A review of the data since the 2023 changes were implemented, reveals alongside the need to improve the efficiency of the service and increase recycling rates, it is clear that there is a significant difference between those areas where wheeled bins are collected (Cynon and Taf) and those where black bags are collected directly from the kerbside (Rhondda); specifically, recycling, (including food waste). Data indicates that the Rhondda area recycles around 30% more* and place out around 50% less* black bag waste than in neighbouring areas.
Rhondda residents have been putting out Black Bags for collection for 30 years without bins and the standardisation will now ensure that the whole of the County Borough operates the same standardised collection method, with better use of the Council’s fleet, removing obstructions from the footways caused by the bins, whilst for others it will mean they don’t need to take bins back and forth through their homes.
More information on Standardisation of Waste Collections – Bins to bags, can be found at - www.rctcbc.gov.uk/BinstoBagsCollections and a link to the full cabinet report can be found here - https://rctcbc.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=132&MId=50005056&Ver=4&LLL=0
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Note: This decision will not come into force and may not be implemented until the expiry of 3 clear working days after its publication to enable it to be the subject to the Call-In Procedure in Rule 17.1 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules. The closing date for Call-In is 5pm on the 22nd July 2024. View more information
Posted on 18/07/2024