Residents on first week of Denbighshire’s new waste collection system

From June 3, Denbighshire County Council introduced the new system, which includes the scrapping of the blue wheelie bin, as well new containers and weekly collections for recyclable materials.

Residents will now be required to separate their “dry” recycling using a three-tier “Trolibocs” service, which has been delivered to households since February.

But after the council apologised last Thursday (June 6) for some recycling collections not being carried out, more residents have told the Journal of their issues with the new system so far.

One resident's overflowing bin (Image: Submitted)

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Brenda Davies, of Berwyn Crescent, Prestatyn, said: “We have been told that we have to wash all jars and lids and put them in a box.

“Does that mean that we will have a reduction in our council tax due to the extra hot water we will need to wash them all?

“We also pay water rates, and will obviously use a lot more water to wash them, plus possibly have to buy a brush to clean the insides of the jars or plastic bottles that can be recycled.

“We should have been informed beforehand.”

The council says the new system will save money and be more environmentally friendly (Image: Submitted)

John Lyons, of Porth y Llys, Rhyl, added: “The council letter explained when to put our bins out and when they would be emptied.

“Two days later, we were still waiting and struggling to fit a square peg in a round hole, as certain sections of my bins were full.

“The bins were only beginning to overflow, and were not collected on the promised date. The bins on our street and others next to us had still not been emptied by lunchtime that day.”

Another Rhyl resident, who asked not to be named, said they were no collections on parts of Bryn Cwnin Road or Rosehill Road on June 4 as promised, and that only the “dustbin” was emptied.

He added: “The new Trolibocs lies there, totally full, and the food waste box and the unwanted bin are all waiting for a pick-up.

“It’s awful to wait two extra days (so far) and not knowing if or when they will be collected.”

Elsewhere in Rhyl, a resident who also asked to be anonymous said the bins on Meredith Crescent and Brynmor Avenue were not collected on June 4 a planned.

As a result, he said, the streets were made to “look like a tip”.

The bins were only beginning to overflow, and were not collected on the promised date. (Image: Submitted)

Another resident from Rhyl added: “So many people’s Troliblocs are all bursting at the seams. Nothing is getting done.

“I’ve not seen any waste crews about; it’s as if they’re on strike. I’m all for recycling, but I think the way they’re going about it is wrong.”

The council has previously said the new system will help it meet Welsh Government’s 70 per cent recycling target, set for all local authorities in Wales.

Several Welsh local authorities have already rolled out similar changes, and have seen an increase in the quantity and quality of recycling collected in those areas.

The new system will also save roughly £450,000 annually, create 27 new jobs, and expand four businesses on the Colomendy Industrial Estate in Denbigh to build its new waste depot.

Denbighshire leader Cllr Jason McLellan with one of the council's new recycling 'Trolibocs on wheels' - to replace their blue bin (Image: Submitted)

A Denbighshire County Council spokesperson said today (June 10): “We would like to thank all residents for their continued efforts with the new recycling system.

“The feedback from our depot is that the quality of recycling received from our collections has been very good, with little contamination.

“Despite our best efforts, there are a small number of households that have not received their waste collection during the first week.

“Residents who have collections on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday should now present their waste on that collection day.

“The crews will take all of their additional recycling as long as it is separated into any type of container.

The new system took effect from June 3 (Image: Denbighshire County Council)

“Any missed collections from Thursday or Friday should be re-presented on Monday, and we will try to collect those with additional mop-up crews on Monday.

“We appreciate that this is inconvenient to residents and we would like to thank them for their efforts during the first week of the new recycling system.

“While our crews adapt to the new service, we’d like to ask they please be patient, as daily collections may take slightly longer than usual to get through.”