Bin collection moves to once every four weeks in bid to encourage recycling

Calls to roll scheme out across the country backed by councillor

Conservative Clwyd West Assembly Member Darren Millar said the plans were 'absolutely ridiculous' (iStock)

A trial is underway in which bins will only be emptied once a month in a bid to boost levels of recycling.

About 10,300 homes in Conwy, north Wales, will be affected by the change which aims to cut the council’s £1.75m annual bill for disposing of unnecessary waste in landfill sites.

Recycling and food waste will still be collected weekly.

The less frequent black bin collections follow a survey of more than 11,000 people.

The council also found over a year-long period that more than half the items placed in black bins in the county should have been recycled.

Conwy councillor Dave Cowans told the Independent the response to the decision has been “quietly positive”.

He said: “The data we had from our consultation indicated a high percentage of support to go along this route.

“We spoke to fellow authorities where they’d introduced three-weekly collections and once they had collected the data, some said they wished they’d gone for four-weekly. But we need our own evidence.

“We will look at the data, see how it’s going and take notice of any increase in fly tipping.”

Asked if he thought the system should be rolled out nationally, Mr Cowans said: “It’s recognised that to be green is good and a public body needs to recognise that. But we would have pursued this anyway. No sensible council could ever justify wasting £1.7m of public money.”

However, Conservative Clwyd West Assembly Member Darren Millar described the plans as “absolutely ridiculous” and claimed it would lead to a rise in fly tipping, litter and pest control incidents.

“I don't want that laid at the door of the local authority, and that's why I want them to step back from these proposals and to crack on with the fortnightly collections that people have now,” he told the BBC.

In response to the criticisms, Mr Cowans said: “You expect flack, but change always produces flack.

“There shouldn’t be rats if you don’t put food in your bin. We take the food waste away every week and make electricity out of it. I’m proud to be associated with it.”

The council is also explaining the changes to children.

“They’re the ones who often put the pressure to recycle on their parents,” Mr Cowans said. “We maximise that. We’ve got a great presentation team that go out to schools, and you see the effect in the areas where we’ve done this. It really is quite marked. It’s a generational change. We’ll look back and think ‘my God, did we used to do that?’”