Covid: Online shopping spike creates Cardiff recycling collection challenge

Cardiff council said an extra 400 tonnes of recycling had been left out for collection compared to the previous year

Major challenges collecting recycling in Cardiff have been partly blamed on a spike in online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cardiff council estimates about 400 tonnes of extra recycling have been left out for collection after Christmas compared to last year.

But with about 17% of the department's staff off work due to Covid-19 it said some collections had been missed.

In a statement the council said it was working hard to get rid of the waste.

"The amount of waste presented for collection over the Christmas period has increased substantially," a statement reads.

"We believe the early lockdown and a big shift towards online shopping has contributed to the large amounts of recycling and packaging we are seeing."

• Why do collections vary around Wales?

During the first lockdown from March 2020, household recycling in Cardiff was temporarily sent to an incinerator to be burnt rather than being sorted and recycled.

At the time the authority said it was dealing with a massive increase in rubbish as people stayed home, while many staff were off sick due to the pandemic.

Councils across Wales have reported marked rises in household waste since the start of the pandemic, leading to fears many will fail to hit recycling targets set in law.

Councils are expected to hit 64% for 2019-2020 and 70% by 2024-2025 or face fines of £200 per tonne. The aim is for Wales to produce no waste by 2050.

In the statement, posted to residents on its Facebook page, Cardiff council said the issues dealing with recycling were "not unique" to the city.

Between 28 December and 3 January, the council said an extra 400 tonnes of recycling had been left out for collection.

It said it had also removed about 850 tonnes of general or black bin waste - a 33% increase compared to last year - and about 400 tonnes of food waste - a 17% rise.

It said in order to collect the extra recycling from people's doorsteps it would need 50 extra bin lorries, and 150 extra staff, and while it had redeployed staff it had to make black bin and food waste the priority.

But with many staff having to shield or having to self-isolate after testing positive for Covid-19, the council said it was facing a "double problem".

"We apologise to residents for any inconvenience and ask you to leave your green bags outside your properties where they will be collected as soon as we are able to do so," the statement read.