Wales is nothing short of world class when it comes to recycling, one of only a few places on the planet with over 50% recycling rates. The Welsh government want this to improve further though, with local authorities being tasked with raising their rates above 70% in the next few years. Conwy want to fine residents for not recycling properly, so we find out what people in Wales’ worst recycling local authority have to say.
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00:00 It's easy to do it. You've got your bags, you just put paper, cardboard, glass in the
00:11 blue. It's easy. There's no problem whatsoever.
00:17 Wales is one of the best countries in the world at recycling. We were the only UK nation
00:22 to improve rates through Covid and currently sit in the top five globally. It's something
00:26 that we all do every week, sieving through bags and sorting out recycling and depending
00:31 on where we live, making sure they're all in the right bins. At the moment, for most
00:35 people though in Wales, there's no real incentive to recycle besides knowing that it's the right
00:39 thing to do. So finding people, for many people today, may seem like a positive for those
00:44 that don't recycle. But through the cost of living crisis, is taking money from people
00:48 really the right approach?
00:51 The thing is, they, give them a good warning. If they caught it then, then do it.
01:01 I don't know. I'm a big fan of like positive rather than negative. So a positive scheme
01:08 to give back to people who recycle instead of taking away from those that don't, I think
01:13 would maybe be a slightly nicer incentive. But negative usually works better.
01:20 A recycle well, yes, it's looking after our planet, isn't it? And we're protecting the
01:23 future. Well, I don't know, it depends what the fine is. It's a bit, it could be a bit
01:28 radical, couldn't it? But people are faced with the chat, you know, either recycling
01:34 or being fined. I know which one I'd do.
01:38 Because I'm very for recycling and I think it's definitely the best way forward. The
01:43 problem is, the bigger the family, the harder it is, especially with lots of councils moving
01:47 towards less allowance for rubbish and fewer bin days. It makes it very, very difficult,
01:54 especially when you don't have proper bins to put them out in. It is a difficult issue.
01:58 And I think, like I say, if they make it easier to recycle and like I say, proper bins and
02:03 things like that as well, it would be better.
02:07 It's not hard, is it? Especially if you have one bag for everything. So yeah, I don't think
02:14 it's that much effort really.
02:16 It's usually 50 quid and then each one gets higher and higher. So the first time, a person
02:21 will be like, "Oh, it's 50 quid," but then it gets higher and higher. Then the person
02:24 will be like, "OK, I've got to do something about this now." So I would say it's a step
02:27 in the right direction. When you get people on board, people seem more enthusiastic about
02:31 doing it and they feel good about themselves. When you're shouting at someone and you know,
02:37 scare tactics, it never really works. In history, it never really works.
02:43 Wales has targets of improving recycling rates to over 70% by the mid-2020s, meaning most
02:48 local authorities only have a few years to get those numbers up. It's finding the way
02:52 to go. Should there be more of a carrot rather than stick approach? Or should local authorities
02:56 be focusing on making recycling easier for us to help reach our goals?
03:00 James B. Watkins, Local TV, Cardiff City Centre.
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