IN FUTURE Blaenau Gwent residents could be able to pop over into Torfaen and dump their recycling at Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC) there, councillors have been told.
But details of how this could be done still need to be ironed out.
Both Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen share a chief executive and moves have been agreed to deepen collaboration across both council’s services – but political sovereignty is not affected.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Place scrutiny committee on Tuesday, March 11 councillors received a report on recycling centres after the days they are open were cut from six to five from the end of last June.
Reducing the days recycling centres are open was agreed at the budget setting process last year and is predicted to save £25,500 for the authority this year based on its implementation over nine months and is calculated to be £34,000 in a full year.
The recycling centre at Roseheyworth in Abertillery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while the facility at New Vale in Ebbw Vale is closed on Thursdays and Fridays.
Neighbourhood services team manager Lisa Jones told councillors that complaints about the changes petered out after six weeks with the “public adjusting to the changes” possibly due to the availability of a recycling centre to visit seven days a week.
Ms Jones said: “We get seven day traffic over five days we have seen some queues during busier summer months.”
Leader of the opposition Independent group, Cllr Wayne Hodgins said: “There’s peaks and troughs on activity at the HWRC’s especially at the weekends if people are doing their gardens.
“If there are problems, especially at the New Vale site when queues are out onto the public highway, we may need to go for the odd extra day to add to the capacity.”
He was reminded by that the reduced opening days had been agreed at the budget setting and would incur extra cost on the authority and that senior departmental staff would be challenged over missed targets.
Director of regeneration and community Ellie Fry: “Obviously Torfaen (county borough council) have HWRC’s as well.
“What we may well do in the future is look to see residents of both local authorities being able to use both (recycling centres), that would alleviate any issues.
“It’s not been discussed in detail, but these are the sorts of opportunities we are looking at to try and spread that use, need and demand from communities.”
Cllr Hodgins asked how this would affect the “accumulated tonnage” Welsh Government targets for Blaenau Gwent?
Ms Fry said: “That’s the detail that needs to be worked out as we would still have to look at that accumulated tonnage for Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen – that’s why it’s not as simple as just opening them up.”
She added that “initial work” looking into this had started.
Ms Fry added: “Accumulated tonnage is important to us but having somewhere to go is important to the community.
“We have to balance that out and see if there’s a way forward.”
Non-aligned Independent, Cllr Jonathan Millard said: “There is more work that needs to be done we do not want to be penalised and see our waste going to a neighbouring authority.”
Councillors agreed to recommend that opening days should be made permanent, and the report will go before the Labour Cabinet to be ratified next month.
