A north Wales council is imposing £100 penalty fines or court action on residents who do not adequately recycle and get rid of their rubbish properly.
The move is part of a bid from the council to ensure it does not lose money it could otherwise get from selling materials, which it said amounts to ‘significant costs’.
The announcement means that households who ignore the need to recycle and don’t accept available help such as visits from the authority to demonstrate to residents how to carry out the recycling.
Fines for the incorrect disposal of items like plastic and glass were introduced in the Welsh city of Swansea four years ago. The average rate of recycling in Wales is high, at 65.2% compared with 44.1% for England.
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Previously Conwy was the first council in England and Wales to introduce monthly bin collections, which it said helped boost recycling.
Cabinet Minister for Neighbourhood and the Environment Councillor Geoff Stewart said: “The majority of residents do recycle their rubbish, but now it’s time that everyone takes part”.
“When people don’t recycle what they can, we all lose out on the money we could make from selling recyclable materials, such as cans, paper, card and plastic. It also means we have to pay more than we need to get rid of the rubbish placed in black bins, because some of this could have been recycled.”
He added: “Money which could have been spent delivering or improving services for the community such as schools, libraries, housing parks and social services, is instead then spent on clearing up any mess and vermin created from overflowing bins, as well as paying for these unnecessary disposal costs”.
