Separated recycling being mixed together into the back of a bin lorry.
Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter
A council is still sometimes having to mix separated recycling together into the back of a bin lorry more than a year after the practice was first reported.
Cardiff Council was questioned last year about council workers mixing separated recycling together after the local authority brought in its new sack-sort recycling scheme.
At the time, it said there were issues with some of its new recycling lorries which meant it had to use general waste vehicles to collect separated recycling.
It has now confirmed that it still has to do this on occasions after a video emerged on social media showing the same practice taking place.
Material impact
The council continues to insist that this does not have a material impact on the recycling that it collects.
When Fairwater resident Rahim Mustafa recently noticed separated recycling being mixed into one lorry he decided to video what was taking place.
“It’s not a reflection of the workers,” he said.
“It’s just something that people are concerned by.”
Most homes in Cardiff now come under the new sack-sort recycling system, which is aimed at improving the quality of recyclable material that the council picks up.
It involves people separating their recycling into separate coloured sacks and caddies for different materials instead of mixing it all into one bag.
According to council data, the new scheme is showing signs of success.
Dry recycling
Figures from the local authority show that dry recycling (plastic, tins, paper and glass) contributed 40.65% to the council’s recycling performance in the first quarter of the financial year, which is the highest it has been since comparisons commenced in 2018-19.
Council data also shows that its recycling performance improved from 60% to 64% in 2024/25.
However, the new system isn’t without its critics with some councillors and residents complaining about a number of issues, like the space needed in people’s homes to store the different sacks and caddies and the problem of sacks blowing away in the wind.
Rahim said that after separating their recycling into different sacks, residents are left wondering what the point of their efforts were when they see it being mixed into the same compartment of a bin lorry.
He added: “The ironic thing was, I’d actually forgot to put one of the bags out and just before the bin men came I ran out and I made sure that I put them in the right bin.
“I put all the cardboard in the cardboard [sack], the plastic in the plastic [sack].
“I know people get fined as well or their rubbish… they won’t take it away if you haven’t divided it properly.”
Confusing
Another concern people had about the new recycling scheme was that it could be confusing for some groups in the community.
Rahim said: “For me… it’s not hard is it? But I know there’s other people, elderly people, who may not understand exactly [what to do].
“I’ve got kids and they often chuck the wrong thing in the wrong bag or [an item] that isn’t even recyclable.”
Cardiff Council has 27 26-tonne split back vehicles for recycling and two 18- tonne vehicles.
Each vehicle must be inspected every six weeks and serviced once a year. The inspection of the vehicle takes three days, while an annual service takes five days.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The improvement in the quality of recycling collected through the new system is significant, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank residents for embracing the scheme and adapting to it so quickly.
“Residents are doing a fantastic job. Separating recyclables into the containers provided is resulting in less contamination, and the new sack-sort recycling scheme is now fully established across the city.
“The improvement in recycling quality takes place at residents’ homes, where the correct materials are generally being put out for collection.
“This marks a clear improvement over the previous commingled green bag scheme, which often included food waste or soiled nappies, posing a nuisance to our staff and incurring additional costs for the council to incinerate non-recyclable waste.
“If any of the twin back vehicles are not available, contingency vehicles are deployed to collect recycling.
“This may involve mixing materials from the blue and red sacks.
“However, the quality of the recycled material remains unchanged, as it is later separated by a reprocessor.
“The integrity of the recycling is not compromised when the recycling from the red and blue sacks are placed in the back of the same vehicle.
“The contingency plan is only activated when genuinely required.”
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