Wales to invest more than £50million in recycling

Wales’ is to invest more than £50million over the next three years in new infrastructure, campaigns and grants to further improve recycling rates.

Environment Minister, Hannah Blythyn, said she wants to build on Wales’ recycling success story with the new funding, which will be provided to support service changes and provide new infrastructure.

This includes a new £500,000 behaviour change and enforcement campaign to raise public awareness of what households should recycle, working in partnership with Local Authorities and WRAP.

“Recycling is a Welsh success story and something we should be proud of. People in Wales have embraced the need to recycle and the Welsh Government and our partners have supported this through innovative policies, financial support and education campaigns,” said Blythyn.

“But we want to do more. Improving recycling rates again will require further support and more concerted and intensive interventions.”

The Minister confirmed that local authorities’ recycling grants will not be cut to fund other council services, while an extra £15.5m will be used to improve collections in the Vale of Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire and Denbighshire.

The Welsh Government also plans to consult on new statutory guidance for local authorities. It says new regulations are also planned to require businesses to separate their waste in the way households already do.

Additionally, the Welsh Government and the UK government will consult on a Deposit Return Scheme and Extended Producer Responsibility before Christmas.

Welsh Ministers are also in discussions with the UK Government on possible taxation measures to tackle plastic waste, including a potential tax on single-use plastics.

The latest annual figures showed that Wales’ municipal recycling rate is now 63 per cent, against a national target of 58 per cent. Wales is also first in the UK, second in Europe and third in the world for household recycling.

“Wales leads the way on recycling in the UK, but we are not complacent. We want to continue working with our partners, and the people of Wales, to go from first in the United Kingdom, to first in the world,” Blythyn concluded.