It has been announced by Lesley Griffiths MP, who is the cabinet Secretary for Environmental and Rural Affairs, that a £5.75 million pot will be set up to assist 10 Welsh authorities in meeting their recycling targets.
Reputedly ambitious, under the Welsh Government, recycling targets are set for an average of 60 per cent by 2016 and 70 per cent by 2025.
It has been reported that although the majority of councils are set for meeting the targets, there are some underachieving boroughs, and Mrs Griffiths has conceded that recycling rates are “slowing down” in a recent interview with letsrecycle.com.
In 2015 it was announced by Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargant, that £3 million in funding would be given to four councils consisting of Flintshire, Neath Port Talbot, Wrexham and Newport.
The new recycling pot announced earlier this month also includes the same string of councils with Flintshire set to benefit from £1.5 million – intended to help implement changes to household waste and recycling centres.
Wrexham, for whom Griffiths represents in Parliament, has also been awarded £376,000 for kerbside recycling containers.
Newport is set to receive £730,000, Neath Port Talbot has been awarded £688,000, Torfaen will draw £800,000 and Blaenau Gwent will receive £520,000.
Methyr Tydfil, Powys, Swansea, and Conwy, are also to collect smaller amounts for future recycling efforts.
Mrs Griffiths, speaking of the new funds, said that:
Wales already has the highest municipal recycling rate in the UK and would be in the top four in Europe if it were separately reported. The £5.75million that I am announcing will help Local Authorities to make even further improvements to their recycling services.
“Our aim is for Wales to have the highest national municipal recycling rate in the world with the ultimate ambition of achieving a ‘carbon neutral Wales by 2020’. This funding will help us ensure further progress is maintained to help us meet these targets.”
In related news, Mary Creagh MP has said that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will see recycling investors “reeling.”
The future has been made even less certain over the past few days as it was announced earlier last week the new Government under Theresa May has folded the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
