So far, the reaction to the announcement yesterday of four-weekly general waste (black bin) collections has been rather muted. That wasn’t the case in 2018 when it was first brought to the world’s attention. The press likes to stir up this sort of thing (as it did then) but even the Free Press simply reported yesterday’s news rather than sensationalised it. (This in total contrast to the charging for green waste which, actually, we now all take for granted.)
Perhaps everyone is now used to the idea of a black bin collection every four weeks. The initial announcement came in June 2018. The new four-weekly collections begin in June 2024. It’s taken exactly six years. Some of the delay is blameable on the coronavirus health emergency. There have been delays in readying the new waste site in Dinbych. And to top it all, its builder went bust.
We shall actually see *weekly* collections of recyclable materials, food waste and nappies. Will a four weekly general waste collection be so bad? We’d say this will be an overall improvement. We really shouldn’t have too much in a general waste bin, these days.
I look at my neighbours, households of between one and four people and only one has excessive waste. I’d say that since the pandemic recyclables have increased while general waste is falling. Take my own example and we think this is typical:
We currently receive fortnightly general waste collections. From January *2023* to date, Rhuthun/Ruthin has seen 30 such collections. We have put our own black bin out on 20 of those occasions only. Some of those have hardly been worth it. The fullest black bin we’ve had was 80 per cent. The average, however, was just at 20 per cent of the capacity. It's likely this is typical. The challenge is to get this even lower and that we assume is where June’s changes come in.
| Year | Average contents general waste |
| 2020 calendar | 35% |
| 2021 calendar | 35% |
| 2022 calendar | 25% |
| 2023 to date in 2024 | 20% |
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Denbighshire