A COUNCIL should be responsible for collecting recycling boxes it distributed to homes but no longer uses, a councillor has said.
Torfaen Borough Council switched to using bags for collecting plastic, cans, tins, and cartons during weekly kerbside collections, alongside another black box still used for glass, paper, batteries, and textiles as well as bags for cardboard, and food waste bins.
But Councillor Nick Horler, an independent who represents Blaenavon, has repeated his call from September for the council to either collect the boxes that are no longer in use or allow residents to return them to a central point in the town.
The councillor said many either have no transport, or lack the funds, to make the 12 mile round trip to the household waste recycling centre in New Inn, Pontypoool the only point where the council will accept the boxes.
He said: “Surely Torfaen should be looking to dispose of them in an appropriate manner as the boxes did belong to them originally?”
When Cllr Horler first raised the issue at September’s full council meeting Cllr Sue Morgan, the Labour cabinet member responsible for waste, said residents could share unwanted boxes with friends or neighbours or keep them for extra storage at times such as Christmas.
At the December meeting Cllr Horler asked for an “action plan to be put in place to collect spare bins from the kerbside so that this unwanted non-recyclable hard plastic is disposed of in a proper manner, and not in some cases blighting our communities and our landscapes.”
However Cllr Morgan repeated her earlier comments about sharing boxes with others and also reminded Cllr Horler one black box is still in use so the additional box, which can be stacked underneath the one in use, could be used for additional items for collection
She had previously rule out collecting boxes on cost ground but said that would be kept under review.