(Image: Cardiff Council / BBC)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
Cardiff households will soon need to get to grips with an additional recycling bag after the city’s cabinet approved a dedicated collection service for soft plastics.
The new scheme targets lightweight materials such as clingfilm, bread bags and crisp packets – items that currently end up in general waste. Residents will be provided with rolls of 30-litre bags specifically for storing clean, dry soft plastics, which should then be placed inside existing red sacks for kerbside pickup.
The move comes as Cardiff looks to close the gap on its recycling targets. The city managed to push its recycling rate up by 4% last year to reach 64%, but that still falls short of the 70% threshold set by the Welsh Government. The council believes soft plastics make up a sizeable chunk of what currently goes unrecycled.
Councillor Norma Mackie, cabinet member for waste, street scene and environmental services, said: “Soft plastics represent a significant proportion of Cardiff’s residual waste.”
“Both these interventions will aid Cardiff in achieving the Welsh government statutory requirement of 70% of municipal waste being recycled.”
The collection is expected to launch this summer, getting ahead of a national statutory requirement coming into force in April 2027. Properties with communal bins will not be included initially – a separate trial will determine the best approach for flats.
Alongside the soft plastic rollout, the council is also scaling back its collection of absorbent hygiene products such as nappies, moving from twice-weekly to once-weekly pickups from April 2026.
♻️ What do residents think?
Residents speaking to BBC Wales shared mixed views on the change. Sandra, 27, welcomed the news, saying: “Rubbish bags don’t look very nice, but it’s more important that people recycle. The more recycling we can do the better.”
Andrew said he would use the new bags but felt the number of different sacks was becoming excessive: “I’m not opposed to it but there’s so many recycling bags now.”
Ellie, 34, who works at a property management company, was more ambivalent: “I’m not bothered about new bags really it’s obviously important that we recycle but I hope the items do actually get recycled.”
Not everyone was convinced the money was being well spent. Vin and Rhys both argued the investment should go towards upgrading recycling centres instead. Rhys said he had witnessed bin lorries mixing waste together, making the effort feel futile.
They said: “I think the money should go into investing in the local recycling centre, it would make more jobs and waste would be sorted properly.”
The nearby Vale of Glamorgan is already rolling out soft plastic collections across all homes from 13 April, following a successful trial involving more than 16,000 households in Penarth, Dinas Powys, Sully, Llandough and surrounding areas.
