RESIDENTS are being urged to recycle more in 2020 in a bid to “move the goalposts” ahead of major changes to bin collections.

While Denbighshire County Council (DCC) recycles 64 per cent of the waste it handles, putting the county among the best recyclers in the UK, it must meet the Welsh Government target of 70 per cent by 2025 – which is then expected to rise to 80 per cent.

Its 2021 collection changes will roll out weekly blue wheelie bin and food waste collections, a fortnightly pick-up for clothes and small electrical items and a monthly collection for non-recyclable black bin waste. Residents will be provided with larger black bins if needed.

However the council and campaigners have called on residents to step up their recycling this year as environmental issues including ocean plastic pollution become more widely known.

Cllr Brian Jones, DCC cabinet lead member for highways, planning and sustainable travel, said: “Denbighshire is one of the UK’s highest recyclers but the goalposts are changing and we expect recycling rates to be a lot more stringent in future. That is why we need to work together now, ahead of the changes coming in next year, to encourage more people to recycle even more than they are doing now.”

The council has a reusable nappies scheme in which parents of a child aged up to 18-months-old can get a maximum £75 voucher to contribute to their purchase. It is also set to launch a series of recycling initiatives in parts of the county in 2020, following a microchipped food caddy scheme in Ruthin and Corwen last year which provided data on household usage and contamination levels.

“We want to work with communities to understand their recycling behaviours and we are introducing a series of initiatives aimed at focussing more on recycling over the coming 12 months,” Cllr Jones said. “There will also be lot of engagement going on and information being shared across the county, so watch this space.”

Items that should be put in the blue bin include paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and containers, beverage cartons, and tins, cans and aerosols.

Food waste for the orange bin caddies include baked and packed dry products, fruit and vegetables, tea bags and coffee grounds, leftovers, and meat, eggs and dairy. Garden waste should be put in the green wheelie bin.

Llangollen became the first town in North Wales to be receive the Plastic Free Community award from marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage after a list of businesses including shops and pubs signed up to its plastic-free action plan.

Mair Davies, environmental campaigner and chair of Plastic Free Llangollen, said: “It is really important that things that can be recycled are put in the correct bin so that we can at least do our bit.

“With global resources being in such demand it’s important that we try to reduce all of our waste, be that by consuming less or recycling and repurposing what we no longer need.”

In Ruthin, plastic-free shop Naturally Ethically upscaled premises after a boom in business during its opening six months. Owner Jayne Bedford now sells refillable products including toiletries and cleaning products, and food such as herbs and spices, dried rice and fruit, which remove plastic from the consumer chain.

“Many people’s eyes have been opened a lot over the last two years and if everyone does their bit then it will make a difference,” Mrs Bedford said.

“We respond to what our customers want and so many people have said they want refillable products without plastic, so there is a demand for it.”

For more information on recycling in Denbighshire, visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/recycling.