Welsh council to impose fine for waste misuse

Blaenau Gwent Council is to impose a £100 fine for people putting food scraps in general rubbish wheelie bins, the BBC have reported.

The council said it was a response to plans by the Welsh Assembly Government to fine local authorities for not meeting recycling targets. It hopes to introduce the scheme this summer.

Officials said if householders misused their bin four times they would be fined, and it would not be collected.

Fines for residents who break the rules on rubbish collections in England are expected to be scrapped. At the moment, people in England can be fined with a fixed-penalty notice if they repeatedly break the rules covering rubbish collections.

Blaenau Gwent currently recycles about 35 per cent of its waste, but this needs to increase to 52 per cent by 2013 if the council is to avoid the fines "which could run into millions of pounds".

The scheme will be managed by council wardens and a waste enforcement officer.

The Welsh Local Government Association said it was unaware of other councils in Wales imposing fines specifically relating to food waste. It also said fixed penalty notices have not been used on a routine basis but were issued in some cases when residents continually fail to abide by waste collection requirements after warnings.

It added that Blaenau Gwent Council had the power to fine people under the Environment Protection Act.

In a statement, the council said: 'If a household misuses their bin on a total of four occasions a fixed penalty notice will be issued and the bin will not be collected.'

'During the first, second and third breaches warning stickers will be placed on the bins and photographic evidence will be collected.'

'Letters are being sent out to all households informing them of the new scheme and specifying a start date.'

Further information:
BBC