Ceredigion County Council has revealed that it collected nearly 55 tonnes of food waste over the first five days of the new household waste collection system across Ceredigion. That equates to the weight of almost eight fully grown African elephants!
A spokesperson for Ceredigion’s Highways, Property and Works Department explained: “Not all areas of Ceredigion received black bag collections in the first week of the new arrangements so the overall picture is incomplete until two full weeks of the new collection regime have been completed. We stress, however, that all indications at the end of the first week are very encouraging and a compliment to the tens of thousands of Ceredigion households that have enthusiastically embraced the new system.”
On 15 November 2010, Ceredigion County Council introduced a new household waste collection regime. The new regime sees food waste and dry recyclates collected from every home on a weekly basis, with residual waste, in black bags, collected on a fortnightly basis.
Ceredigion’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Highways, Property and Works, Councillor Ray Quant MBE, said: “We did our homework on all of this early on, we consulted widely with citizens, with town and community councils before reporting to the Ceredigion Cabinet earlier in 2010. Ceredigion has a long history of setting records in the field of recycling and we were guardedly confident that the new service was capable of satisfying not only the demands the revised Welsh Assembly Government requirements make of us but also of satisfying those very real aspirations of an environmentally-aware Ceredigion populace.”
Ceredigion County Council revealed that its Highways, Property and Works Department’s Contact Centre had been very busy during the first week of the new regime and explained, “The new household waste collection system represents the greatest county-wide change the County Council has ever been involved with. It has involved every single household across the entire county. The challenge of communicating effectively with all the households involved has been considerable but we are greatly indebted to the local press and media for marvellous assistance in clearly transmitting the key messages. Yes, we are still encountering some enquiries from individuals who may not have clearly understood what is required or require some particular type of assistance or explanation, which we are only too happy to supply. Needless to say, there are also one or two individuals who want to register their opposition to change. Unfortunately, that type of call can delay our Contact Centre staff in attending to genuine enquiries but that is just something we have to live with.”
