Welsh Government advises less frequent black bag rubbish collection by councils

North Wales Live

26-06-2025

The Welsh Government has recommended that black bag waste collection from households should occur only once every three to four weeks.
In newly issued guidance for councils, the government states that "collection once every three to four weeks is sufficient and more frequent collection should be avoided so that it does not undermine the effectiveness of the recycling service provided".
According to the Collections Blueprint 2025, a weekly limit of 60 litres of black waste per household is deemed "sufficient", noting that a standard wheelie bin has a capacity of 240 litres.
The document outlines the Welsh Government's preferred strategy, which is "for all aspects of collection (household recycling and waste collections, reuse and recycling centres, bring sites, bulky collections, non-household recycling and waste collections, and litter collections) to be managed in an integrated way to deliver high-quality resource and management services at the lowest practicable unit costs".
Regarding residual waste – the black bag waste – the document indicates that "with increased recycling and less material going into disposal significantly less residual capacity is needed", reports Wales Online.
It also says that Wales' 22 councils should consider weighing waste "for data collection for residual collections". It also says black waste policies should be "actively enforced" and there should be "clear policies in place for households that require additional capacity".
There are differences across Wales, as it stands, in terms of black waste. In Cardiff it is collected every two weeks, but in Newport, the Vale, and Rhondda Cynon Taf it is every three weeks. In Conwy black waste is collected every four weeks.
The document lays out the suggestions to councils for nappy collections, garden waste, bulky collections, and food waste. It says there should be weekly food collections and waste bags for food should be given for free.
In terms of "dry recycling" – paper and cardboard; plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and trays; metal tins, cans, aerosols, and foil; cartons and other paper-based composite products; and glass jars and bottles – its preference is for things to be sorted at the kerbside rather than mixed together. These should be collected weekly.
The items should be checked when being loaded to ensure the "lowest possible contamination". That would mean items which aren't suitable or are dirty would be rejected immediately and residents told there and then.
They say three or more "preferably reusable, dry recycling containers" should be given to each household to keep items separate.
Councils should set up repair and reuse shops to encourage recycling, they add, while council recycling centres, the document says, should have "at least 85% recycling and reuse".
Wales has a strong recycling performance and is top of the UK charts and second in the world behind Austria.
"An increasing proportion of waste managed by local authorities in Wales is being sent for preparing for reuse, recycling, or composting," the document says.
The document says that 15 of Wales' 22 councils offers the collection recommended and two more are changing to it.
The document also says that councils should provide segregated litter bins to help people recycle when out and about and give appropriate signs to show what goes where.