It has been revealed that Cardiff City Council is looking into the possibility of introducing kerbside sorting to its recycling collections, less than a year after implementing new co-mingled collections.

The suggestion comes after the European Commission’s (EC) revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD) recently ruled that, by 1 January 2015, all member states should collect recycling separately to reduce contamination and ensure better quality end-recycled material. Welsh councils have been particularly concerned by the decision as, currently, 11 still use co-mingled collections for dry recyclables.

Speaking to the South Wales Echo last week (16 August), Councillor Ashley Govier – Cardiff City Council’s new Cabinet Member for the Environment – confirmed that he had asked officers to explore the possibility of switching the city’s recycling collections to kerbside sorting: "I don't want people to be panicked by this, but clearly we are going to have to change at some point. It's an EU directive and we will have to follow it. If we don't follow it then the legal cases could run into the millions.”

Cardiff City Council last overhauled their recycling services 11 months ago, introducing a weekly food waste collection (raising the area’s recycling rate to 54 per cent) and switching to fortnightly refuse collections in a move expected to save the council £1.3 million in landfill fees every year. The possibility of a decision to alter collections again within a relatively short period of time has proved contentious among many residents and local politicians.

Nothing new

As well as stressing the inevitability of the switch, the Labour Councillor also accused the former Liberal Democrat administration of avoiding the problem, arguing that the rWFD was “nothing new” and the party “knew kerbside was the preferred method for the Welsh Government and EU in terms of end product. It was highlighted to the previous administration that the danger of co-mingling was that we would face this."

Cardiff’s expression to change collections come just a few weeks after the Welsh Local Government Association’s (WLGA) called on government to provide further clarity on whether or not co-mingling is legally compliant.

Speaking earlier this month (1 August) a spokesperson for the WLGA acknowledged that the confusion over co-mingled collections could potentially hold “far reaching consequences for both councils and their local communities”, adding that if councils “are to maintain local support and limit disruption to residents in the future, we have a duty to work together to solve the collections issue as a matter of some urgency.”

Kerbside sorting

Despite such concerns, Clych, the Wales Community Recycling Network, responded positively to the possible changes. Speaking yesterday (21 August), a spokesperson for the network emphasised that there is now “firm evidence to show that sorting materials at the kerbside is not only cost effective, but also produces clean, high-quality materials that can be easily reprocessed.”

Clych also suggested that kerbside sorting of recyclables enables residents to understand more about what happens to the waste they produce: “Source-separated collection systems rely on educating householders that their waste is actually a resource that has real value. Because the approach is people focused, as opposed to technology led, this value extends beyond the monetary worth of the material itself through the creation of green jobs to boost the local economy.”

A spokesman for Cardiff City Council notes that if the council does change its recycling system, it will not in the immediate future: "We intend to fully analyse in depth the financial impacts and perceived benefits before proposing changes to our residents. There is a long way to go before we will be in position to make any decisions and they will not be rash, they will be fully informed and with the residents at the heart of decision-making alongside what is best for Cardiff.

“While we shall work closely with the Welsh Government on all aspects of the recycling agenda, we do not consider it practical immediately nor necessarily by 2015 to change from our co-mingled recycling collection system to four separate collections."