From this date, residents who do not live in purpose-built flats and have not yet joined the scheme will start receiving their new recycling containers, with the first collections scheduled to start on March 4th.

From January 20th, residents in Butetown, Canton, Creigiau, Cyncoed, Fairwater, Llanishen, Llanrumney, Old St Mellons, and Riverside will receive:

• Blue Caddy: For glass bottles and jars
• Red Sack: For metals, tins, aerosols, foil, plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and tetra packs
• Blue Sack: For paper and cardboard

Along with the new containers, residents will also receive a cover letter, a detailed booklet, and a ‘quick guide’ information sheet to help them understand the scheme and know where to put their recycling.

The new 'sack sort' scheme has already been delivered to thousands of properties across Cardiff, significantly improving the quality of recycling collected.

Under the new scheme, recorded benefits include:

• Higher Recycling Rates: 96% of products presented for recycling can be recycled, compared to 70% under the previous co-mingled green bag collection scheme.
• Reduced Contamination: The contamination rate has dropped from 30% to 4%, reducing issues with non-recyclable waste, and street litter caused by birds and animals trying to open green bags for food which has been presented incorrectly.

Cllr Norma Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services said: "The rollout of the new recycling scheme is designed to help residents, and the council recycle as much household waste as possible. It gives everyone an opportunity to do their bit to help combat climate change. The remarkable improvement in recycling which we have seen in the parts of the city where the scheme is already up and running is good news, and we want to take this opportunity to thank residents for getting on board with the scheme and adapting to it so quickly. Our figures show that the kerbside-sort system is delivering a significant and continuous improvement on the quality of recycling material being collected when compared with the co-mingled (green bag) collection system. Our residents are doing a brilliant job. Separating recyclables into different streams is leading to less contamination. Previously, 30% of what we collected in the co-mingled, green, plastic bags was unrecyclable. In many instances, those bags would contain food waste or dirty nappies, among other things, causing a nuisance to staff who had to sort the waste at our depot. This unrecyclable waste then had to go for incineration leading to higher costs. The non-recyclable waste incorrectly placed in green plastic bags, especially food, also creates issues with animals and birds breaking open bags on the street, scattering litter across our roads. The new system makes it harder for animals and birds to break open the sacks, but the fact they contain less food waste than we were finding in the green bags is also helping significantly. Under the new 'sack sort' recycling scheme, this contamination rate has dropped from 30% to 4%. The quality of the recyclables collected has also improved significantly and will help the city as we strive towards the challenging recycling and composting targets that have been set by Welsh Government."

The new 'sack sort' recycling scheme is Welsh Government's preferred way for local authorities to collect recycling from residents' homes. It is designed to increase the quality of the city's recycling and to meet the challenging recycling and composting targets that are set in law. Cardiff's recycling and composting rate must reach 70% by 2025, and zero waste by 2050, targets outlined in Welsh Government's Towards Zero Waste Strategy

Residents can request extra sacks to recycle their waste. There is no restriction on how much recycling residents are able to present. Sacks were chosen over plastic boxes – which are used in some parts of Wales – in recognition that many properties in Cardiff won't have gardens, so the sacks can be folded down when not in use. They are also easier for residents and waste crews to lift. Extra weight has been added to reduce the risk of sacks being blown away by the wind, but replacement sacks can be ordered via the council app https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/cardiff-gov-app/Pages/default.aspx or collected at some hubs.

To collect the 'sack sort' recyclables, new waste vehicles are being used which have two separate chambers at the back of the vehicle. The recycling from the blue sack goes into one side of the vehicle and the recycling from the red sack goes into the other. A separate vehicle is being used to collect the glass jars and bottles.

There have been times when general waste vehicles have been used to collect these streams together. This happens when there is an operational need to do so – for example, vehicle breakdown. However, we want to assure residents this does not have a material impact on the recycling collected, and the reason for this is twofold:

1. Residents have already ensured that the recyclables being collected are of high quality and the material collected in sacks/bottle bins is not being mixed with green bag recyclables.
2. They are being brought back to the council's Materials Recycling Facility at Lamby Way, which separates the material by size and weight, delivering the same quality recyclables as those which would have been collected in the twin-chambered vehicles.

Following the latest rollout, all houses in Cardiff will be covered by the new recycling scheme. A new bespoke scheme for purpose-built flats will follow, and further information will be provided later in the year.