Latest News

Re-introduction of side waste enforcement

Published: 01/09/2021

Side waste enforcement on kerbside waste collections will be reintroduced week commencing 6 September 2021 for those households who continually leave extra bags of rubbish out for collection alongside the normal wheelie bins.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, enforcement action for leaving additional “side” waste next to the black bin had been suspended due to the health and safety risks posed to our enforcement team.  

During this time, we have collected an additional 3,000 tonnes of residual waste from residential properties, a 12% increase in comparison to the previous year, which has had a negative impact on our recycling performance. 

Consequently, we will be reintroducing side waste enforcement on kerbside residual waste collections from September 2021. This means that, if you present more waste in addition to your wheelie bin, our crews will not collect your extra waste. 

Most households should be able to fit their residual waste (that is waste that cannot be recycled) into their wheelie bin, particularly if they are making use of the kerbside recycling collection service. 

We collect recycling every week and there is no limit on the amount of recycling residents can place out for collection, so if additional bags or boxes are needed, these can be provided as necessary.

There are a minority of households not making use of the recycling service which is unacceptable for a number of reasons, including:

• The environmental problems caused by side waste when bags split causing waste to spill onto the streets;

• The loss of valuable resources that can be recycled to make new products;

• The financial cost of disposing of residual waste and lost potential income from the sale of recyclable materials.

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene, Councillor Glyn Banks, said:

“Throughout the years, the majority of Flintshire residents have made full use of the recycling services provided to them at the kerbside and we thank them for that.  However, there is a small minority that don’t. recycle and we want to reach out to these individuals and assist them with making the correct choices when disposing of their household waste.

“The process for side waste enforcement is a three staged approach with the initial emphasis on informing and educating residents on the correct way to present their waste and recycling. Formal action for continued non–compliance is taken only when no improvement is observed following the first stage.

“Evidence has shown us that the education stage makes a significant impact on residents’ waste disposal habits and therefore improves our recycling performance.”

More information on the side waste process and additional information which will assist residents with recycling their household waste can be found on the Council's website.