Jane Davidson, the Assembly Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, visited Flintshire on Thursday 28 October to see the Council’s recycling services in operation.
Local authorities employ various methods of waste collection but Flintshire has always favoured source separated kerbside collections as the best option to preserve the quality of materials collected for recycling. This method is also in accord with Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) guidelines.
Flintshire has consistently met all targets set by WAG and thanks to residents’ support, the current recycling rate is 45 per cent. The next target set by the Welsh Assembly Government is 52 per cent by 2013 and will be a challenge for Flintshire and all other County Councils.
The visit by the Assembly Minister was as a result of an invitation from Councillor Nancy Matthews, Executive Member for Waste Management.
Cllr. Matthews said “We were delighted that the Minister was able to make time in her busy schedule to visit Flintshire. We showed her our various schemes and how residents’ support has helped us meet Government targets.”
The Environment Minister said “If we are to reach our target of recycling 70 per cent of our waste by 2025 we must all play our part. We recycle much more than we did a decade ago, but we still have a long way to go and cannot afford to be complacent.
“Local authorities clearly have an important role in this, but householders need to contribute too. That’s why I am calling on everyone to reduce the amount they throw away, reuse as much as possible and recycle everything they can so that together we can reach our goal.”
