Wales to become a Zero Waste nation

It is a very exciting day indeed because today the Welsh Assembly Government has declared a new 70% recycling target to be in place by 2025, including households, businesses and the construction sector.

The Assembly has also announced that it will become a "Zero Waste" nation by 2050.

This announcement is part of the Welsh Assembly's new draft waste strategy which sets out how Wales proposes to tackle the issue over the next four decades. It includes plans to encourage a more integrated recycling infrastructure across Wales and capitalise on new green jobs and business opportunities as recycling services expand.

My own visits to the green green grass of home have already indicated a dynamic and proactive approach to waste management solutions. St Arvans in Monmouthshire is now well established as a zero waste village and can be hailed as a role model for many areas in Wales and indeed the rest of the UK.

Throughout the rest of Wales, local authorities have also been busy implementing food waste collections, including Merthyr Tydfil, my home borough. My mother gave me a demonstration when I visited last October and remains pleased with the facilities the council is providing.

Jane Davidson Minister for Environment, Sustainability & Housing said on the matter.

"Research shows that recycling is often the thing people most recognise as being their main contribution towards improving the environment. We need to create a truly comprehensive recycling society, where everyone can recycle where ever they are – at home, whilst out relaxing or at work. But this isn’t just about recycling. It is about getting people to rethink why they are producing so much waste in the first place."

So being a supporter of Zero Waste as well as being Welsh, I'd like to say "diolch yn fawr" to Ms Davidson and the Welsh Assembly for its forward-thinking plans. Yes thank you! And who knows, I may even be able to persuade my English husband to move over the border. Today he asked me to reorder a new wooden toothbrush on his behalf, so dragging an Englishman from his home country could now be a possibility.

More information can be found at the Welsh Assembly Government's website.

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War on Waste in Wales: Recycle for Merthyr Tydfil

Creoso i Cymru. Bore da. Sut ydych i heddiw? That's "Welcome to Wales". "Good Morning" and "How are you today?"

Unfortunately that's about as much Welsh as I can remember from my schooldays but I'm now happy to add to Rhyfel ar Wastraff (war on waste) to my vocabulary and indeed Ailgylchu dros Ferthyr Tudful (recycle for Merthyr Tydfil).

Now, if you're thinking this is all a bit random (and indeed it is), I'm simply recovering from a whirlwind trip, where we got up early and drove to Wales to see my family and drove through the night to arrive back in Suffolk just as the clock struck midnight.

And indeed, here I am, back at my computer with hair like Russell Brand, which is my normal look if I haven't made it into the shower.

However, I'm also sitting here with Bin Envy!

As soon as we got to my mum's house yesterday, or rather mam's house, she got very excitable and dragged me into the kitchen to look at a pair of bins that have revolutionised waste collection in the Merthyr Tydfil valley.

And here they are, a pair of diddy blue bins, comprising a little caddy for collecting food waste in the kitchen and a larger (but still fairly small) bin for putting out on bin day.



The small bin comes with its very own cornstarch liner so that it doesn't even get dirty. And look at what you can put in it:



The food waste is collected every week for in-vessel composting, which according to the organisation Environment for Wales, is the first purpose built facility in Wales.

Now my mum is very happy with this system but she has said there are people in the village that aren't so happy. One woman says she doesn't have any food waste so doesn't want extra bins. I guess the answer there is to send them back or use them for something else.

Another lady said she didn't like throwing food slops away. But hang on a minute, that's what they do anyway in the big black wheelie bins that are permanent fixtures of the street scene.


I remember living in this street, when wheelie bins didn't litter the pavement and you could walk along two-by-two rather than in single file. Just imagine, by reducing rubbish, recycling more and separating food waste in this way, it would be possible to elimate the ugly black bins from the terraced streets in the valleys.

I've just read that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has recently announced that it has come top of the league in the general Local Government performance indicator tables for Wales.
In a press release earlier this month Chief Executive, Alistair Neill commented on the result saying "This is really encouraging news for everybody involved in driving on performance within the Council"

He also said "Why don’t we all make the effort to become the best in Wales in recycling too?"

With progressive schemes like this being introduced, I've got a funny feeling that they might just make it. I hope they run a Zero Waste Week. That would be fun and I'd have some other new words to add to Welsh vocabulary too.

And Zero Waste in the valleys might just banish those wheelie bins forever!

Oh nearly forgot, the only other bit of Welsh I remember is "Mae gath yn eistedd yn y basged," Now if anyone can translate that, you will think that I really am bonkers. (Sigh - I think it's time to go wash my hair!)

Visit www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk for more local info.

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