Recycling keeps waste from landfill

Kerbside recycling schemes in Swansea are helping to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill sites in south west Wales.

Recycling schemes developed to help residents dispose of their food related waste, glass, cardboard, tin and even grass cuttings have helped the city use up less than 70 percent of its set landfill allowance.

A report has recently been published by the Environment Agency highlighting the amount of municipal waste sent to landfill sites in Wales and shows that Swansea stayed well within its allowance.

In Swansea, for 2008/9, 67.9 percent of the city's landfill allowance was used and resulted in just under 50,000 tonnes of waste sent straight to landfill.

The report is good news for Swansea and the rest of Wales but Swansea Council is urging residents to keep on recycling.

Local Councils in Wales have set landfill allowances and these allowances are set to be reduced quite significantly from now until 2013 in a bid to improve the environment.

John Hague, Swansea Council Cabinet Member for the Environment said: "I'm pleased that we have performed well enough to fall short of our landfill allowance. This clearly demonstrates that many residents are making the effort to recycle and assist us in sending less waste to landfill. This, in turn, saves residents money in avoiding the Landfill tax the Council has to pay when it disposes of waste to landfill.

"We know our landfill allowance for the coming years will decrease year on year. This will require more residents to make use of the kerbside services we have introduced if we are to avoid paying Landfill Tax and the heavy fines for going over our allowance."

In the last year, the Council has expanded its kitchen and green waste kerbside services to give residents more ways to dispose of their domestic waste in a much more environmentally friendly way.

All councils in Wales will be expected to recycle 40 percent of municipal waste by April 2010.

Cllr Hague said: "We are continuing to develop the infrastructure needed to reach these targets to make it as easy as possible for residents to recycle. We are doing our bit as a local council but residents also have to do their bit and help us improve our environment."

For further information about kerbside recycling services and civic amenity sites in Swansea visit the Council's website at www.swansea.gov.uk