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Side waste enforcement and environmental awareness

Published: 07/07/2021

When they meet later this month, Cabinet members will be asked to approve the reintroduction of side waste enforcement on kerbside collections for residual waste in September 2021.

From March 2020, side waste enforcement was suspended due to Covid-19.  Since then, the Council has collected over 3,000 additional tonnes of residual waste from residential properties - a 12% increase in comparison to the previous year.  Due to strict national recycling targets set by the Welsh Government, this downturn in performance cannot be sustained. 

There has also been an increased concern around fly tipping and littering and other environmental issues. 

In order to tackle these important matters, Flintshire wants to reintroduce side waste enforcement and deal with the increase in environmental crimes in an attempt to reduce this antisocial behaviour and improve our Local Environmental Quality (LEQ).

Most households should be able to fit their residual waste (i.e. waste that cannot be recycled) into their wheeled bin.  Recycling is collected every week and there is no limit on the amount of recycling residents can place out for collection.

There is a minority of households not making use of the recycling service which is unacceptable for a number of reasons, including:

• The environmental problems caused by side waste when bags split causing waste to spill onto the streets;

• The loss of valuable resources that can be recycled to make new products;

• The financial cost of disposing of residual waste and lost potential income from the sale of recyclable materials

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene, Councillor Glyn Banks, said:

“The enforcement process for side waste is a three staged approach with the initial emphasis on informing and educating residents on the correct way to present their waste and recycling. Formal action for continued non–compliance is taken only when no improvement is observed following the first stage.

“Evidence has shown us that the education stage makes a significant impact on residents’ waste disposal.  We would, therefore, propose that we explore the options for a designated role to drive and deliver environmental improvement campaigns within local communities.”

Prior to any reintroduction of side waste enforcement, a Countywide campaign would be undertaken to inform residents.