The attempt by Pembrokeshire County Council to encourage recycling by issuing free compost bins is excellent in principle, but badly flawed in its implementation, according to Plaid. John Dixon, Plaid's Assembly candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said: "We are getting reports of people receiving the bins who have no gardens, and even people who live on upper floors of flats are being issued with the bins. The result is either that the bins themselves need to be collected back in by the council or that they become plastic waste. Both of these outcomes undermine the environmental benefits which the council intended. "The policy is a good one, and is to be commended but the approach to distribution needs to be reviewed before any more are distributed. Ideally, they should only be issued to households which have agreed to receive them this would maximise the impact on recycling compostible waste, whilst minimising the cost of the scheme." When contacted by the Observer about the concerns, a spokeswoman for the local authority said: "Plaid Cymru's press release is wrong in several respects. "Pembrokeshire County Council is delivering the compost bins to householders with gardens or courtyards. The council is not aware of any deliveries to people living in top floor flats or those without a garden or courtyard. "Although the compost bins are suitable for garden waste, the principal aim of the scheme is to reduce the amount of uncooked vegetable and fruit wastes going to landfill. This means they can be used by the vast majority of people, indeed anyone with an open space to site the bin. "The final allocation of bins has not yet been purchased, as the council is waiting to see what the final figure will need to be. However, purchasing only the number that will be required will ensure there will be no surplus bins, as Plaid Cymru claims. "The free compost bin scheme, implemented on a county-wide scale, is a groundbreaking initiative which is being pioneered by Pembrokeshire County Council and scrutinised very closely by other local authorities in Britain. "A total of 99 per cent of householders are content to receive the bins - a phenomenal amount - with just a one per cent rejection rate. "Deliveries of the bins are accompanied by advice, information, website details and a support package. "Community groups are also active in North and South Pembrokeshire to support the scheme. "The initiative has received European funding and is directly supported by the Welsh Assembly Government. It is also of national importance with the Government sponsored Waste Resources Action Plan (WRAP) working directly with the Council to analyse the results of the scheme. "Home composting was first identified in a consultative document Pembrokeshire County Council Waste Management Strategy 2001. "A consultation process was undertaken on this document in 2002 where 84 per cent of those surveyed expressed support for Option 1 in the above strategy, which included green waste composting. "Following on from the consultation document, the Municipal Waste Management Strategy (2004) identified the introduction of a home composting scheme to meet Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) diversion targets set for Pembrokeshire by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). "According to the WAG (Consultation on the Landfill allowances Scheme and the Pre-treatment of Municipal Wastes in Wales (Dec 2004): "Home composting is the single most effective waste prevention measure that local authorities can promote. Where householders (and others) can be persuaded to compost their biodegradable wastes at the location that they are produced, the biodegradable content of the residual waste from such premises will be reduced. This contributes to changing the characteristics of the residual wastes. "This approach should be promoted particularly vigorously in those areas where the kerbside collection of materials is considered to be difficult. "In order to help meet tough recycling/composting targets all local authorities are provided with a Sustainable Waste Management Grant so that they can develop the appropriate infrastructure and services and purchase the relevant equipment. "The Pembrokeshire County Council Waste Management Strategy is fully available for members of the public to see on the council's website under Waste Strategy."
