Cofnod Datgeliadau

Cwestiwn

I am requesting the following information relating to household recycling in your local authority area:

1. Household recycling contamination rates

Please provide the average contamination rate of household recycling collections, expressed as a percentage by weight, for each of the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25 (or the latest available figure if the year is not yet complete)

2. Tonnage rejected due to contamination

Please provide the estimated tonnage of household recycling rejected or sent to residual waste disposal due to contamination in each of the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25 (or the latest available figure if the year is not yet complete)

3. Recycling enforcement capacity

a. Does your authority employ officers or teams with responsibility for checking household waste and recycling bins for misuse or contamination?

b. If yes, please provide:

• The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff dedicated to this function, for each financial year from 2022/23 to 2024/25

• The total budget allocated to recycling enforcement activity for each of those years

4. Civil penalties for incorrect recycling

Please provide the number of fixed penalty notices or civil enforcement fines issued to householders for incorrect recycling or waste separation, and the total amount of monies generated from those fines, for each of the following financial years:

• 2016/17

• 2017/18

• 2018/19

• 2019/20

• 2020/21

• 2021/22

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25 (or the latest available estimate if final data has not yet been published)

5. Simpler Recycling legislation compliance

a. Is your authority currently operating in compliance with the Simpler Recycling regulations (as introduced under the Environment Act 2021)?

b. If not yet compliant, what is your authority's planned implementation date?

c. If your authority intends to apply for a deferral or has already done so, please confirm the reason and the current status off that application.

Ateb

1. Household recycling contamination rates

Please provide the average contamination rate of household recycling collections, expressed as a percentage by weight, for each of the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25 (or the latest available figure if the year is not yet complete)

Response: The Council operates a kerbside sort collection system for household recycling, whereby materials are separated by residents at source and collected in distinct streams. This approach significantly reduces the level of cross contamination typically associated with co mingled recycling systems.

As a result, contamination within the Council’s recycling streams is minimal and is not routinely recorded or reported as a quantified percentage by weight within WasteDataFlow or internal performance monitoring systems.

Accordingly, the Council does not hold recorded or verified data for contamination rates expressed as a percentage by weight for the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25

Additional information:

Where contamination is identified at the point of collection or processing, it is generally managed operationally (e.g. through rejection of individual items or loads and targeted resident engagement) rather than through formalised percentage based reporting.

The Council’s kerbside sort system is designed to minimise contamination at source, and therefore contamination has not historically been measured in the same manner as authorities operating co mingled collection systems.

2. Tonnage rejected due to contamination

Please provide the estimated tonnage of household recycling rejected or sent to residual waste disposal due to contamination in each of the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25 (or the latest available figure if the year is not yet complete)

Response: The Council operates a kerbside sort collection system for household recycling, whereby materials are separated at source and collected in distinct material streams. This system significantly reduces the presence of contamination when compared to co mingled collection systems.

As a result, contamination within the recycling stream is minimal and is not routinely measured or recorded as a quantified tonnage of rejected material within WasteDataFlow reporting or internal performance monitoring.

Accordingly, the Council does not hold recorded data for the tonnage of household recycling rejected or diverted to residual waste due to contamination for the following financial years:

• 2022/23

• 2023/24

• 2024/25

Additional information:

Where contamination is identified, it is generally managed operationally (for example, through the rejection of specific items at the kerbside or targeted engagement with residents) rather than through formalised tonnage based reporting. Due to the nature of kerbside sort collections, materials presented are largely pre segregated, and any contamination is typically removed at source rather than recorded as a rejected tonnage.

3. Recycling enforcement capacity

a. Does your authority employ officers or teams with responsibility for checking household waste and recycling bins for misuse or contamination?

Yes.

b. If yes, please provide:

• The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff dedicated to this function, for each financial year from 2022/23 to 2024/25

2022/2023 5 staff

2023/2024 4 staff

• The total budget allocated to recycling enforcement activity for each of those years

2022/2023 £126,356

2023/2024 £145,7806

4. Civil penalties for incorrect recycling

Please provide the number of fixed penalty notices or civil enforcement fines issued to householders for incorrect recycling or waste separation, and the total amount of monies generated from those fines, for each of the following financial years:

• 2016/17 3 Issued £300 income

• 2017/18 22 Issued £0 income

• 2018/19 5 Issued £535 income

• 2019/20 13 Issued £0 income

• 2020/21 12 Issued £600 income

• 2021/22 41 Issued £1025 income

• 2022/23 24 Issued £800 income

• 2023/24 17 Issued £1100 income

• 2024/25 20 Issued £0 income

The income figures provided relate to Fixed Penalty Notices issued for waste offences and may include part payments received at the time of reporting; they do not include any income associated with court proceedings or associated costs.

The Environmental Information Regulations request seeks information on the number of civil penalties or fines issued to householders for incorrect recycling or waste separation.

In Wales, enforcement for incorrect presentation of household waste and recycling is carried out under Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which provides for the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for non compliance with waste receptacle requirements.

Fixed Penalty Notices issued under Section 46 are issued for a summary offence and are not classified as civil penalties.

Accordingly, the Council does not issue civil penalties in the context described and therefore holds no recorded data for civil penalties or civil enforcement fines for incorrect recycling for the requested financial years.

The number and value of Fixed Penalty Notices issued under Section 46 may be held separately; however, these do not fall within the definition of civil penalties as specified in the request.

5. Simpler Recycling legislation compliance

a. Is your authority currently operating in compliance with the Simpler Recycling regulations (as introduced under the Environment Act 2021)?

The “Simpler Recycling” requirements introduced under the Environment Act 2021 apply to local authorities in England and do not extend to Wales.

Waste and recycling collections in Wales are governed by Welsh Government policy and legislation, including the Collections Blueprint, which promotes a kerbside sort system and already requires a high level of source segregation.

Accordingly, the Council is not subject to the Simpler Recycling regulations and therefore this question is not applicable.

b. If not yet compliant, what is your authority's planned implementation date?

Not applicable. The Simpler Recycling requirements do not apply in Wales and there are no plans for implementation within this authority.

c. If your authority intends to apply for a deferral or has already done so, please confirm the reason and the current status off that application.

Not applicable. As the Simpler Recycling regulations do not apply in Wales, there is no requirement or provision for deferral.