Let's Talk Waste & Recycling

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Click here for Welsh

This consultation ran from 05.12.2022 to 09.01.2023. You can read our consultation report here. You can read the cabinet report here. You can read about the decisions made here.


The Council has previously noted that unprecedented challenges lie ahead for ALL services across local government due to the ongoing economic impact of Covid-19, Brexit, the conflict in Ukraine and the Cost of Living crisis, with double digit inflation and three-fold increases in local authority energy costs forecast for next year.

In such circumstances it is vital that the Council avoids non-recycling fines by meeting Welsh Government’s recycling targets of 70% by 2024/25 and supporting Wales’ efforts to become net-zero by 2030.

The Council now needs to explore all available options to increase the recycling rates across the County Borough. The proposal put forward is that:

  • ALL households across Rhondda Cynon Taf move to a three-weekly black bag/wheelie bin collection. A move to 3 weekly collections, will need to be supported by the continuation of the existing waste limits, which is currently 2 black bags per fortnight (the equivalent of 1 black bag per week) and would move to 3 black bags or a closed wheeled bin every 3 weeks.

This proposal would help the Council to:

  • Continue to deliver a FULL WEEKLY recycling service alongside these changes, including nappies, food waste, dry recycling and green waste (seasonal) - which should make up almost 80% of weekly household waste.
  • Save vital funding of £800,000 in running costs and significantly reduce its annual carbon footprint.
  • Divert any savings achieved to safeguard other key services such as social care or education.

The current recycling rate for Rhondda Cynon Taf stands at 67.48% and the Council must act now to ensure that it is not subjected to large fines of £140,000 for every 1% that it fails to reach the 70% target. This huge sum of money, at an already difficult time, could result in services having to be cut or affected to pay the fines.

It is estimated that the contents of 8 out of every 10 black bags that are put out for collection could be recycled, and the proposed changes would help us all stop and think about every item that is thrown away – and whether they can be recycled.

The Council was one of the first Councils in Wales to move away from weekly waste collections and limit the number of black bags that are collected. Over the past few years these changes have helped achieve a huge rise in the recycling rate for the whole County Borough.

The Council has come a very long way over the last decade to improve recycling rates and that is thanks to the efforts of our residents and our dedicated staff.

In 2013, when fortnightly collections were introduced, the County Borough had a recycling rate of 43.3% and was facing potential fines for not hitting the Welsh Government target of 52% for 2013/14 - today the Council has a 67.48% recycling rate, that’s a 24% increase!

This shows that the changes made then, combined with our residents, had the power to help us exceed the current target (the Welsh Government set statutory targets of recycling a minimum of 64% of waste by 2019-20).

The Council now needs your help and views on how you think it can reach the Welsh Government recycling target of 70% by 2024/25.

The proposal should it be implemented is projected to achieve an increase in recycling equal to 2,600 Tonnes and significantly reduce its annual carbon footprint, equating to a 1.9% increase in the Council’s overall recycling rate (based on 2021 figures), (increasing from 67.48% to 69.38%).

Alongside the consultation launched in respect of this proposal the Council will also be trialling the use of reusable recycling sacks for the collection of dry mixed recycling (DMR) in parts of the County Borough.

Click here for Welsh

This consultation ran from 05.12.2022 to 09.01.2023. You can read our consultation report here. You can read the cabinet report here. You can read about the decisions made here.


The Council has previously noted that unprecedented challenges lie ahead for ALL services across local government due to the ongoing economic impact of Covid-19, Brexit, the conflict in Ukraine and the Cost of Living crisis, with double digit inflation and three-fold increases in local authority energy costs forecast for next year.

In such circumstances it is vital that the Council avoids non-recycling fines by meeting Welsh Government’s recycling targets of 70% by 2024/25 and supporting Wales’ efforts to become net-zero by 2030.

The Council now needs to explore all available options to increase the recycling rates across the County Borough. The proposal put forward is that:

  • ALL households across Rhondda Cynon Taf move to a three-weekly black bag/wheelie bin collection. A move to 3 weekly collections, will need to be supported by the continuation of the existing waste limits, which is currently 2 black bags per fortnight (the equivalent of 1 black bag per week) and would move to 3 black bags or a closed wheeled bin every 3 weeks.

This proposal would help the Council to:

  • Continue to deliver a FULL WEEKLY recycling service alongside these changes, including nappies, food waste, dry recycling and green waste (seasonal) - which should make up almost 80% of weekly household waste.
  • Save vital funding of £800,000 in running costs and significantly reduce its annual carbon footprint.
  • Divert any savings achieved to safeguard other key services such as social care or education.

The current recycling rate for Rhondda Cynon Taf stands at 67.48% and the Council must act now to ensure that it is not subjected to large fines of £140,000 for every 1% that it fails to reach the 70% target. This huge sum of money, at an already difficult time, could result in services having to be cut or affected to pay the fines.

It is estimated that the contents of 8 out of every 10 black bags that are put out for collection could be recycled, and the proposed changes would help us all stop and think about every item that is thrown away – and whether they can be recycled.

The Council was one of the first Councils in Wales to move away from weekly waste collections and limit the number of black bags that are collected. Over the past few years these changes have helped achieve a huge rise in the recycling rate for the whole County Borough.

The Council has come a very long way over the last decade to improve recycling rates and that is thanks to the efforts of our residents and our dedicated staff.

In 2013, when fortnightly collections were introduced, the County Borough had a recycling rate of 43.3% and was facing potential fines for not hitting the Welsh Government target of 52% for 2013/14 - today the Council has a 67.48% recycling rate, that’s a 24% increase!

This shows that the changes made then, combined with our residents, had the power to help us exceed the current target (the Welsh Government set statutory targets of recycling a minimum of 64% of waste by 2019-20).

The Council now needs your help and views on how you think it can reach the Welsh Government recycling target of 70% by 2024/25.

The proposal should it be implemented is projected to achieve an increase in recycling equal to 2,600 Tonnes and significantly reduce its annual carbon footprint, equating to a 1.9% increase in the Council’s overall recycling rate (based on 2021 figures), (increasing from 67.48% to 69.38%).

Alongside the consultation launched in respect of this proposal the Council will also be trialling the use of reusable recycling sacks for the collection of dry mixed recycling (DMR) in parts of the County Borough.

Page last updated: 01 Mar 2023, 02:09 PM