On street litter and recycling bins - what happens to your waste and recycling?

View this page in Welsh / Gweld y tudalen hwn yn Gymraeg


Currently, waste from on-street litter bins is collected, sorted and recycled as much as possible. By making changes to this process, we hope to increase recycling rates, reduce waste, and prevent recyclable materials from being contaminated.


How it currently works?

First, waste is collected from litter bins across the Vale. These bins contain a mix of recyclable and non-recyclable materials since there is no separation when people dispose of waste.

Next, the waste is taken to a local waste and recycling centre, where it is processed with other collected waste. Since the bins do not separate materials, everything arrives mixed.

At the centre, staff assess what can be recycled and what must be disposed of. This step helps reduce general waste, but mixed materials make sorting difficult due to contamination.

At the recycling centre, staff manually sort bags to separate recyclables from general waste. This process is straightforward but unpleasant, as workers handle dirty, wet, and unsanitary materials. Despite this, about 70% of bin waste is actually recyclable. Better separation at disposal could prevent these materials from going to landfill.

Sorting waste by hand also slows the process. Each bag must be opened and checked, adding time and cost. Since everything is mixed, more effort is needed to remove contaminated items, making recycling less efficient.


New recycling bins

To solve this issue, we have begun introducing new recycling bins with different apertures to separate materials at disposal. These bins will ensure plastic bottles, cans, and paper are placed in the right section from the start. This will reduce contamination and make sorting faster and more effective. The change will recover more recyclables while lowering the time and cost of manual sorting.




Lis Burnett Interview - Why are we removing litter bins:

View this page in Welsh / Gweld y tudalen hwn yn Gymraeg


Currently, waste from on-street litter bins is collected, sorted and recycled as much as possible. By making changes to this process, we hope to increase recycling rates, reduce waste, and prevent recyclable materials from being contaminated.


How it currently works?

First, waste is collected from litter bins across the Vale. These bins contain a mix of recyclable and non-recyclable materials since there is no separation when people dispose of waste.

Next, the waste is taken to a local waste and recycling centre, where it is processed with other collected waste. Since the bins do not separate materials, everything arrives mixed.

At the centre, staff assess what can be recycled and what must be disposed of. This step helps reduce general waste, but mixed materials make sorting difficult due to contamination.

At the recycling centre, staff manually sort bags to separate recyclables from general waste. This process is straightforward but unpleasant, as workers handle dirty, wet, and unsanitary materials. Despite this, about 70% of bin waste is actually recyclable. Better separation at disposal could prevent these materials from going to landfill.

Sorting waste by hand also slows the process. Each bag must be opened and checked, adding time and cost. Since everything is mixed, more effort is needed to remove contaminated items, making recycling less efficient.


New recycling bins

To solve this issue, we have begun introducing new recycling bins with different apertures to separate materials at disposal. These bins will ensure plastic bottles, cans, and paper are placed in the right section from the start. This will reduce contamination and make sorting faster and more effective. The change will recover more recyclables while lowering the time and cost of manual sorting.




Lis Burnett Interview - Why are we removing litter bins: