Welsh Government Wants Monthly Black Bag Collections

The Welsh Government has issued new guidance recommending that councils collect black bag waste from households just once every three to four weeks 🗑️

The Collections Blueprint 2025 states that “collection once every three to four weeks is sufficient and more frequent collection should be avoided so that it does not undermine the effectiveness of the recycling service provided”.

The guidance suggests a weekly limit of 60 litres of black waste per household is “sufficient”, noting that a standard wheelie bin has a capacity of 240 litres. With Wales already leading the UK in recycling and ranking second globally behind Austria, the government argues that “with increased recycling and less material going into disposal significantly less residual capacity is needed”.

Currently, collection frequencies vary across Wales’ 22 councils. Cardiff collects fortnightly, whilst Newport, the Vale, and Rhondda Cynon Taf operate three-week intervals. Conwy residents already wait four weeks for black waste collection.

The blueprint also recommends weekly food waste collections with free bags, and weekly “dry recycling” collections for paper, cardboard, plastics, metals, and glass – preferably sorted at the kerbside rather than mixed.

Welsh Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders criticised the proposals, saying: “With council tax rising year after year while services are being cut, people in Wales are right to question where their money is going and why they’re being asked to do more with less.”

A Welsh Government spokesman defended the guidance, stating: “The collections blueprint guidance to our local authorities has been a core part of our success in reaching second in the world for recycling. As our local authority recycling services have improved and expanded, it increases the amount of household material recycled and collected as a valuable resource to go back into the economy, whilst reducing the amount of material needing costly disposal in black bins or bags which is wasted.” ♻️