Residents Express Concern Over New Recycling Scheme in Denbighshire

A Denbighshire councillor says some residents are still very concerned about the new recycling and rubbish collection scheme set to start in six weeks.
Denbighshire County Council will roll its new Trolibocs system out on June 3 and is holding a series of drop-in sessions to help residents before the change.
Residents will be given a new three-tiered “Trolibocs on wheels” to replace their blue bin.
Currently most residents in Denbighshire put their unrecyclable waste into a black bin and all their mixed recyclable waste into a blue bin.
But from June, the Trolibocs system will be used to collect paper, plastic, metal, food cartons, and glass, which residents must separate themselves to help cut costs – and a weighted hessian bag will be used for cardboard.
Rubbish collections will then be collected every four weeks as opposed to two weeks as it is currently.
Recycling, though, will be collected every week rather than fortnightly.
But Ruthin councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts said some residents still had concerns about the new system.
“I would say some residents are in favour, and other residents have contacted me who are very raw and very concerned about the changes,” he said.
“I think the main concern is on the initial view of the trolley boxes and the waste bin going from two weekly to four-weekly, which is a big change for some people.
“I wouldn’t say that people are resistant to change. They are concerned about the volumes (of rubbish and recycling) that are currently produced on a two-weekly cycle, and they are concerned about the changes because the blue bin you could put everything in, but now you have to separate that, and I think there is a lot of concern about separation and if they are doing it right.
“I think it is a real challenge having these bins. It is something that has been imposed on Denbighshire by Welsh Government. I know of other local authorities who have already gone ahead with the changes, but there are some local authorities who have not done it, and the Welsh Government are threatening legal action.”
Cllr Hilditch-Roberts added, “There are drop-in centres for information about how the new system works, and I’d encourage residents to go and see what the changes are but also to go there and share their views and feedback to the council going forward.”
55% of the cost of the new £22m recycling scheme has been funded by Welsh Government, the new system saving the council around half a million pound a year, cutting annual costs from around £7.6m to £7.1m – and creating 27 new council jobs.
Drop-in sessions
Denbighshire County Council is holding six drop-in sessions in the coming weeks to give residents the opportunity to ask questions about the new recycling system which starts from 3 June.
The recycling drop-in sessions will be held between 2pm and 7pm in the following locations:

Wednesday, 24 April at Denbighshire County Council Offices, Caledfryn, Smithfield Road, Denbigh, LL16 3RJ
Wednesday, 1 May at Rhuddlan Community Centre, Parliament Street, Rhuddlan, LL18 5AW
Thursday, 9 May at Prestatyn Library, Kings Avenue, Prestatyn, LL19 9AA
Wednesday, 15 May at Llangollen Town Hall, Parade Street, Llangollen, LL20 8NU
Wednesday, 22 May at Rhyl Town Hall, Wellington Road, Rhyl, LL18 1BA
Wednesday, 29 May at County Hall, Wynnstay Road, Ruthin, LL15 1YN

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter