#blue-bags — Public Fediverse posts

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Blue bags end for a third of homes on Monday 2 November

A third of homes in Carmarthenshire will stop putting their recycling out in blue bags from Monday 2 November, when the county’s switch to colour-coded sacks begins.

Carmarthenshire Council says most homes in the first phase, mainly in the west of the county, start on that date. A small number will start later in November, because the service is being brought in in stages.

Every home will get a letter this month with its start date and collection arrangements, and the council says residents should follow the dates in it. In July, the council said that letter would arrive in September.

Your bin day could change even if you keep blue bags

The change reaches beyond the homes switching. Collection days, or the week black bags go out, may change for homes across the county, including the two thirds staying on blue bags for now.

Homes staying on the old service will get their own letter and a new calendar in October. Their usual yearly supply of blue bags and caddy liners will arrive between November and January.

For a small number of homes, the new rounds leave a gap of more than three weeks between the last black bag collection on the old schedule and the first on the new one. The council says it will run a one-off extra collection for those homes, and write to them separately with the date.

Five sacks, and how to check yours has arrived

Homes switching will sort their recycling into red, orange and blue sacks, with red bags for plastic film and a white sack for batteries. We set out what goes in each sack, and what doesn’t when the switch was announced in July.

The sacks are being delivered during September and October, along with a year’s supply of food caddy liners. Residents can check online whether deliveries in their area are finished, and report a missed delivery if theirs hasn’t come.

Food waste, recycling and glass will all be collected weekly. Garden waste and hygiene and nappy collections are unchanged, and black bags stay at three every three weeks.

Carmarthenshire is the 19th council in Wales to switch

The council says the change is part of the Welsh Government‘s Collections Blueprint, which is meant to raise both the amount and the quality of recycling collected.

Carmarthenshire will be the 19th council in Wales to move to separated collections, it says, a system first brought in elsewhere in Wales in the early 2000s. It says councils that miss Welsh Government recycling targets could face significant fines, with potential consequences for council taxpayers.

A new rulebook written for the switch sets out a ladder for households that keep getting it wrong, running from a letter to a warden’s visit to fines.

Your October letter has your start date

Cllr Edward Thomas, the council’s cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services, said: “It is important that residents look out for their letter in October, as this will confirm their start date and any changes to their collection day or week.”

He said the switch would help the county hit its targets: “By separating our recycling, we can improve the quality of the materials we collect, recycle more of our waste and help Carmarthenshire achieve its recycling targets.”

Residents can check whether their home is changing with the council’s postcode checker.

They can also sign up for free email or text reminders of their collection days.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Blue bags scrapped for a third of homes, and everyone’s collection day could change
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STICKER SHOCK: Wrong bag, wrong day, and the new Carmarthenshire bin rules that can end in court
The rulebook behind the switch, from stickers to fines.

SWANSEA: No UK city recycles more, new green league table shows
How the county’s neighbour scored in a new study of 94 cities.

More on recycling
Bins, sacks and tips across south west Wales.

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Blue bags scrapped for a third of homes — and everyone’s collection day could change

Blue bags are on the way out for around a third of homes in Carmarthenshire, replaced by a set of reusable colour-coded sacks that residents will sort their recycling into themselves.

Carmarthenshire Council says the switch — which it is calling Separated Recycling — starts in mid-to-late autumn, with homes in the west of the county going first.

The other two thirds keep their blue bags and the current mixed service until a second phase, which the council has not dated.

Nobody in the county escapes the reshuffle

But nobody in the county is untouched. Collection days for food waste, recycling, glass and black bags may change for every home, whether the service is changing or not.

The council says it reviewed its rounds at the same time as bringing in the new vehicles, so it only had to redraw them once. Among the factors it weighed, it says, were new housing, road changes, environmental law, carbon emissions — and pressure on its own budget.

Every household will get a letter over the summer confirming which group it is in, and a second in September confirming collection days with a calendar. A postcode checker is already live on the council’s website.

Five sacks — and a bag that goes inside one of them

Homes moving to the new service get a red sack for metals, plastics and cartons, an orange sack for cardboard, a blue sack for paper, a roll of red bags for plastic film and wrapping, and a small white sack for household batteries.

The red bags go inside the red sack, tied shut, rather than out on their own.

Plastic bags, wrapping and household batteries have not been collected from the kerbside before. Until the switch, residents are told to keep taking film to supermarket collection points, or bin it if they cannot.

Glass is the quiet winner

There is a gain buried in the detail. For homes moving to the new service, glass bottles and jars in the black box go from a three-weekly collection to a weekly one.

Food waste and recycling stay weekly. Black bags stay at up to three every three weeks. Garden waste, nappy and hygiene collections, bulky waste and the council’s Canolfan Eto reuse project are all unchanged.

The sacks land in August

The sacks and a year’s supply of food waste caddy liners will be delivered across several weeks in August and September, with an online delivery tracker going live on Monday 7 September.

The council suggests writing your address on the sacks in permanent marker so you can spot yours after collection — and passing spare blue bags to friends or family elsewhere in the county who are still on the old service.

Residents who need help carrying containers out can apply for assisted collections, and anyone already on that service keeps it automatically.

The pizza box problem

The council has published a full breakdown of what goes in each sack, and some of it runs against instinct.

Brown envelopes and brown paper go in the orange cardboard sack — not the blue paper sack with the rest of your post.

Wrapping paper is not recycled at all. Nor is any cardboard stained with food, oil or grease, which rules out most pizza boxes. Both go in black bags.

Yoghurt and cream pots go in the red sack. Their foil lids do not — they go in the black bag.

Shredded paper is only accepted in small amounts, and only inside a paper bag or envelope.

Polystyrene, fruit and veg netting, blister packs, plastic straws and disposable cutlery are all black-bag items. Hard plastics — garden chairs, plant pots, kitchen bins, Tupperware — have to go to a recycling centre.

The small white sack is for household batteries only: AAA, AA, C, D and 9V.

Vapes and e-cigarettes are barred from it, as are car batteries, chargers, watch and key-fob coin cells, and the rechargeable packs from laptops and power tools. All of those must go to a recycling centre.

Broken glass stays out of the black box. The council asks residents to wrap it in newspaper or double-bag it before it goes in a black bag, so crews are not cut.

Carmarthenshire is 19th in the queue

The change is driven by the Welsh Government‘s Collections Blueprint, the national template for kerbside sorting. The council says Carmarthenshire will be the 19th of Wales’ 22 local authorities to make the move — a system first introduced in Wales in the early 2000s.

It says councils can be fined for missing Welsh Government recycling targets, and that those costs can land on council taxpayers.

It also says the first phase deliberately starts in areas that are simpler to collect from, with fewer property types, and that phasing gives its depots time to build capacity.

Residents were last consulted on the changes in 2021, through a countywide survey.

Swansea and Neath Port Talbot got there first

Neighbouring authorities are further down the road. Swansea households were told in January to expect their own container overhaul.

Neath Port Talbot simplified its system in 2025. It is also putting the UK’s first all-electric bin lorry fleet on the road this summer.

Swansea hit a 72% recycling rate earlier this year and was named the best-performing city in Wales. That came as the country pushed its national record higher.

On black bags, Carmarthenshire is already where the Welsh Government wants councils to be — a three-weekly collection Swansea’s leader publicly refused to adopt last summer.

‘No need to take any action’

Cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services Cllr Edward Thomas said sorting at the kerbside would improve the quality of the material collected.

“We are introducing the changes in phases to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible,” he said. “There is no need to take any action at this stage — we will contact every home directly with everything they need to know.”

Residents can sign up for free email or text collection reminders through the council’s My Hwb account, whichever service they are on.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Swansea households set for major recycling shake-up as council plans new containers and free garden waste sacks
Swansea’s own container overhaul, with charges scrapped for garden waste sacks.

Swansea named Wales’ top-performing city for recycling as households hit 72% rate
New Welsh Government figures put Swansea ahead of every other city in Wales.

Neath Port Talbot residents to see changes to recycling collections as council simplifies system
Cardboard and paper together in white bags as NPT streamlines its kerbside service.

Council rejects Welsh Government’s call for collecting black bag waste every 3 or 4 weeks
Swansea’s leader refused to move to the three-weekly collection Carmarthenshire already runs.

Neath Port Talbot to become UK’s first council with a fully electric bin lorry fleet
The first of the all-electric vehicles arrive this summer.

Swansea’s blue bag plastics trial extended – 70 tonnes collected so far

Around 20,000 households across the city have been stuffing crisp packets, bread bags and biscuit wrappers into special blue bags for kerbside pick‑up. The trial, launched in spring, was designed to see if residents would embrace recycling the trickiest plastics that usually end up in black bags.

They did. Within weeks, Swansea Bay News reported more than five tonnes had already been collected. Now the total has soared past 70 tonnes, with the material recycled into new products like bags for life and bin liners.

“A great success story”

Cabinet Member Cyril Anderson said:

“The trial so far has been a really great success story. Residents have got on board with it and have quickly seen the value in using the recycling service and reducing the amount of household waste they put in the black bag. Our plan is to continue the trial into the new year and give residents in the trial areas the opportunity to use the blue bags until June.”

Where it runs

The scheme covers a mix of areas across Swansea – from Blaenymaes, Fforestfach and Penlan to Clydach, Hafod and Townhill – chosen to test how different housing types use the service. Residents outside the trial can still recycle soft plastics at supermarket collection points.

What goes in the bag

Accepted items include crisp packets, bread bags, cereal liners, pet food bags, magazine wrapping and multipack rings. Residents are asked to rinse items and tie bags securely with a double knot.

Items such as cling film, polystyrene, cleaning product pouches and blister packs are not accepted and should go in black bags.

What’s next

The Welsh Government is collating data from Swansea’s trial to help decide how similar schemes could be rolled out across other towns and cities. For now, Swansea households in the pilot areas can keep filling their blue bags until 30 June 2026.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Council to trial soft plastic kerbside recycling scheme in Swansea
Swansea Council launched the pilot scheme in April, inviting 20,000 households to recycle soft plastics at the kerbside.

Swansea residents embrace new soft plastics recycling trial with over five tonnes already collected
Early figures showed strong uptake, with residents quickly filling blue bags and more than five tonnes collected within weeks.

Plans revealed to change kerbside recycling in Swansea
Wider proposals to reshape recycling collections across the city, including how soft plastics could fit into future services.

Recycling must be made easier for Lichfield and Burntwood residents, councillor says

https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2023/05/11/recycling-must-be-made-easier-for-lichfield-and-burntwood-residents-councillor-says/

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Good progress being made to address issues identified with roll-out of blue recycling bags across, council leader says

https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2022/12/17/good-progress-being-made-to-address-issues-identified-with-roll-out-of-blue-recycling-bags-across-council-leader-says/

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