Cardiff’s current recycling scheme is changing: Here’s what you need to know

Say goodbye to those pesky green bags


Cardiff Council have announced that they are changing the way the city currently recycles to a split-recycling scheme following a six-month trial.

The scheme will be rolled out over the next two years and residents will be expected to split their recycling into three reusable containers, as opposed to being put into green bags.

4,000 homes across Llandaff, Radyr, Pentwyn and Trowbridge took part in the trial. They were asked to place glass in a blue caddy, plastic, metal and tin in a red sack and finally, paper and cardboard in a blue sack. The sacks have lids that can be secured by Velcro.

However, when asked, the residents did not appear to be happy with the new scheme. Of the 363 responses received by Cardiff Council, 37 per cent were satisfied whilst 55 per cent felt dissatisfied by the recycling trial.

61 per cent of residents explained that they preferred the original green bags for all recycling and 40 per cent said that they struggled to use the new containers due to factors such as age and/or disability.

One person also complained that: “the sacks are not waterproof so cannot be stored outside”, whilst another noted that: “the sack is not marked with a house number so difficult to to retrieve correctly when the bags have blown around the street.”

The council has also put forward other proposals as part of the new scheme such as increasing the number of items eligible for recycling collection, trialling yellow bag collections to once every three weeks as opposed to once every two and finding a new way for flats and HMOs to recycle.

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