A four black bag limit will be introduced at the household waste recycling centre in Whitland from Monday, January 30.

The aim is to encourage residents to separate their waste before visiting the site, and encourage them to recycle more.

It is being introduced as a three-month trial initially, but if successful, it could be rolled out to the county’s other recycling centres as well.

Leaflets are being handed out at the site to inform residents of the change coming in at the end of the month; and signs have been put up.

Visitors will be permitted to dispose of four black bags per visit, per day; and if they are over, they will either have to open up the bags on site and separate any recyclable materials, or take them home.

The site is run by CWM Environmental Ltd, on behalf of the council.

Executive Board Member for the Environment, Clr. Hazel Evans, said: “We know that some people are disposing of black bags which contain recyclable materials and we need to take action to try and stop this.

“Hopefully by introducing a limit on the number of black bags that can be taken to Whitland, people will start to think about what they are putting in them and in turn, this will lead to an increase in our recycling rate.

“We are currently recycling approximately 64 per cent of our rubbish here in Carmarthenshire and I would like to thank residents for all their efforts.

“However, there is always room for improvement and with just a few simple changes we can make a big difference.”