Cardiff Council is setting the pace with its recycling programme and is surging through the 50% barrier in terms of the percentage municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling being collected for recycling or composting. These excellent figures look set to exceed Welsh Government (WG) targets in the coming year with Cardiff becoming a leading recycling city.
The local authority has consistently improved the rate of MSW it has collected for recycling in the last 2 years, and since the switch to a weekly recycling and food waste collection service in September the rate has risen 12% compared to the same quarter last year.
Prior to the introduction of weekly recycling and food waste collections in September last year recycling rates had improved steadily from last year’s figure of 42%, but since the new service changes were implemented the Council is delighted to report that the recycling rate for the last three months of 2011 has soared to 54%.
It is clear Cardiff is seeing a major improvement in its recycling rates with an overall recycling rate of 53% projected for the whole of the 2011/12 financial year, above the WG target of 52% set for the next financial year, 2012/13. To be ahead of the WG target one year ahead of schedule is testament to how well the biggest change in household waste collection for 10 years has been embraced by Cardiff residents.
Sustaining this rapid rate of recycling over the next financial year would mean that Cardiff is well on track to achieve 58% for 2012/13, continuing to surge well ahead of WG targets.
This is an excellent achievement and the response from Cardiff residents has been fantastic. Residents have never had a better opportunity to recycle and compost the waste they produce, and the Council is grateful to them for the enthusiastic way they have embraced the authority’s sustainable vision.
Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Margaret Jones, said, “This is a very significant achievement for Cardiff Council and its residents and we’re delighted with the progress made so far. As well as achieving sustainability goals it also decreases the future cost of landfill tax and landfill allowance scheme penalties as well as recycling fines that could otherwise rapidly accumulate to millions of pounds over a few years. I thank the residents of Cardiff for working with us to make the recycling collection changes such a success. The results are fantastic so far, and I hope we can all work together to ensure we keep improving and building on this excellent set of figures.”
Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Rodney Berman said, “This Council has seized the sustainability agenda and revolutionised the way Cardiff deals with its recyclable waste. These figures are outstanding and justify all the hard work that has gone into moving to a weekly recycling and food waste service, the biggest change to the city’s waste collection in a decade. We are proud to be leading the recycling charge for Wales, and the people of Cardiff who have responded so magnificently to our new service can be assured the hard work will continue in building, year in year out, on this considerable achievement.”
