A public consultation was launched on Monday by Pembrokeshire County Council on its proposals to change the way it collects recycling and black bag waste from domestic households.

The consultation follows a recent review of the council’s waste service.

The waste review showed that unless Pembrokeshire’s recycling performance improves, the council will not meet Welsh Government future recycling targets and will be heavily fined.

It looked at several ways of improving recycling rates, and recommended that the most effective option would be a kerbside sort scheme, with a wider range of recycling materials accepted.

“The new proposals would allow households to recycle up to 75 per cent of their waste, which means that they will have a lot less black bag waste to store,” said Clr. Cris Tomos, cabinet member for the environment and Welsh language.

The review also examined the black bag collection service to see if there was a way of reducing costs - in view of the financial pressures facing local government - while also increasing efficiency and recycling rates.

Strong evidence from other local authorities showed that restrictions in the number of black bags collected, along with a reduction in the frequency of collections, did boost recycling performance.

The review recommended that the most effective option would be a three-weekly black bag collection, with a three-bag limit. This would include an exceptions policy surrounding larger households and a separate collection of bulky absorbent hygiene products, such as nappies and incontinence products, where required.

“Because households would be able to recycle more under our proposals, they would have to store a lot less in their black bags,” said Clr. Tomos.

“However, we are aware that our proposals would not suit all households and so are proposing a range of measures to make sure that we can meet everyone’s needs.”

Cabinet members discussed the review at their meeting on November 6, and approved that its recommendations go forward to public consultation.

The key recommendations are: to introduce a new weekly kerbside sort recycling service and expand the range of recyclable materials accepted; to introduce three-weekly black bin bag collections, with a limit of three black bags per household (an exception policy would also be in place), plus a weekly/fortnightly collection of bulky Absorbent Hygiene Products where required.

Further recommendations include: the introduction of a policy to check all black bag waste brought to Civic Amenity Sites and a requirement for users to sort any recycling into an appropriate container or receptacle; a review of the potential to use wheelie bins as the containment method for residual waste; that a percentage of the savings are reinvested into local environmental quality.

Members of the public can read the consultation document and give their views on the proposals by: going online at www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/haveyoursay or by requesting a copy of the consultation document from the Council’s Contact Centre on 01437 764551

The deadline for comments is Monday, January 15.

The comments made will be put forward for scrutiny by the council’s pre-decision and policy overview and scrutiny committee on February 16. Final recommendations and an Implementation Plan, if appropriate, will be presented for consideration by cabinet on March 19.