Removal of glass and paper recycling banks comes under fire

The county council says that, with the weekly kerbside recycling service now available for all properties, both glass and paper can now be easily recycled from home.

It says that to streamline recycling services, the glass and paper recycling banks will soon be removed from the community recycling sites spread across the county, although banks for other materials will remain.

Councillor Aled Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives on the unitary authority, said the council had to get kerbside collections right first before taking the recycling banks away.

"Residents have experienced a summer of poor service, with many recycling boxes remaining unemptied across the county," he said.

"In some areas the weekly service is becoming a fortnightly service and some roads are completely missed for three or four weeks in a row.

"The Liberal Democrat/Labour-run council have this week announced that they are removing the remaining bottle and paper banks from across Powys. My plea to the Cabinet at Powys Count Council is please get the kerbside collection right first before contemplating further removal of the bottle banks. It is clear that this current council administration are making it harder, not easier to recycle.

"However, I must thank the hard-working recycling teams across Powys, who are working long hours to try and deliver this important service."

Councillor Jackie Charlton, cabinet member for a greener Powys said: "When the community recycling sites were first introduced, they provided Powys people with a way to recycle household items locally. With the weekly kerbside recycling service now available for all properties, both glass and paper can now be easily recycled from home.

“The decision to remove these two materials from the community recycling sites was agreed by the cabinet earlier this year.”

“Although initially identified as a budget saving, it is also a duplication of service, the removal therefore allows us to concentrate our stretched resources on fulfilling the weekly kerbside collections."

Councillor Charlton added: “We appreciate there are some regular users of the glass and paper recycling banks, but now that these items can easily be recycled each week from home, the removal of these banks from the community recycling sites shouldn’t be an issue.

“If anyone is struggling to fit all their recycling into their kerbside containers, they can request additional boxes online. Of course, both glass and paper can also still be taken to any of the five Household Waste Recycling Centres across Powys.

"The removal of these banks also ensures they can no longer be abused by fly-tippers contaminating the material and used illegally by businesses. Businesses needing a recycling collection service can contact the Powys Commercial Recycling team for a free quote."