THE newly elected MP for Clwyd North, Gill German, has held a meeting with Denbighshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Jason McLellan, and chief executive, Graham Boase, to raise the concerns of residents’ missed waste collections following the introduction of a new system.

On June 3, the council implemented changes to recycling and waste collections, including new containers and weekly collections for recyclable materials, and the scrapping of the blue wheelie bin.

Since then, some residents have been required to separate their “dry” recycling using a new three-tier “Trolibocs”.

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But the council has issued multiple apologies for residents across the county not having their bins collected on time since the new system began.

Ms German met Cllr McLellan and Mr Boase on August 30 at Russell House, Rhyl, to raise concerns surrounding missed collections.

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

She raised the concerns of residents whose experiences of the new recycling system have fallen below their expectations so far.

Ms German said: “We spoke at length about the improvements that the council are making in terms of re-routing vehicles, offering more collection rounds, bringing in additional resources to ensure recycling is not left uncollected, and plans to continue improving the service provision across the county.

“Of course, new systems need time to bed in, and nobody expected the new recycling system to work perfectly from day one.

“But constituents telling me their waste had not been dealt with over several weeks is clearly unacceptable.

“I am very pleased that the leaders of Denbighshire County Council are taking this feedback seriously and already showing vast improvements in collections in our towns and rural communities.”

Ms German added that she was pleased to see “tangible improvements” being made to the service, including reduced numbers of complaints for “on-street” and “end-of-lane” collections which have previously resulted in longer delays for residents.

Prior to her election as Clwyd North MP on July 5, she was deputy leader of Denbighshire County Council, and cabinet member for education, children and families.

On Monday (September 2), it was reported that Conservative members of the council have backed a vote of no confidence in Cllr McLellan (Labour) and his cabinet, citing the issues the new waste collection system has presented as one of the reasons for doing so.

But Ms German said: “It is testament to the leadership of the council that it is now getting to grips with the recycling issue after this difficult start and delivering the service local people deserve.

“It is right that leaders were quick to issue an apology for the problems experienced by many residents and I thank them for their candid response to the concerns raised.”