Caerphilly food and garden waste change to boost recycling

Caerphilly is trying to encourage more residents to recycle food waste

Changes to the way food and garden waste is collected in Caerphilly will be made in a bid to increase recycling rates in the county.

The council has previously bundled the waste together on collection but it now plans to split them so they can be recycled more efficiently.

Food waste will then be treated using anaerobic digestion, which turns the waste into energy.

Garden waste collections will be a "request only" service until February.

The council said the change, which starts on 31 October, was unlikely to cause disruption as data showed only a small amounts of garden waste was generated during winter.

Food waste will continue to be collected weekly.

About 38% of residents recycle their food waste in the county and a recent study showed food still accounted for 28-30% of all residual waste collected in Caerphilly.

Council staff have been visiting the county's 74,000 homes, giving out free replacement food bins and offering advice in a bid to encourage uptake.