The Environmental Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday 11 December 2025 to discuss a recycling update and a road user payment scheme update. The committee will also review the minutes of the previous meeting and consider any urgent items. The meeting will conclude with a discussion of the way forward and the date of the next meeting.

Road User Payment Scheme Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the proposed Road User Payment Scheme.

The report pack includes a cover report, a cabinet report, a strategic outline case, an initial Welsh transport appraisal guidance report, and an equality impact assessment.

The Road User Payment Scheme is described as a pre-decision item.

Recycling Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on recycling in Cardiff. The last formal report on this topic was in September 2022, when the Recycling Strategy for Cardiff 2022-2025 was scrutinised. According to the Public Reports Pack, this strategy now needs to be replaced with a revised strategy because a segregated kerbside recycling system has been rolled out to the majority of the city.

The report pack states that the 2024/25 year end performance in relation to the performance indicator 'the percentage of municipal waste collected and prepared for reuse and/or recycling' was 64.01%. The current verified 2025/26 Q1 data is 67.57%, which is better than the same period in the preceding year.

The report pack also refers to a document 'The Path to 70% statutory recycling target' which has been written by the WRAP Cymru¹ Collaborative Change Programme team. It says that this document provides the basis for negotiations between the Council and Welsh Government on actions to support reaching the 70% recycling target. Once this has been formally agreed a new recycling strategy for the city can be finalised.

The report pack lists a number of national legislative and policy drivers, including:

• The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011
• Towards Zero Waste The Waste Strategy for Wales (2010)
• Waste (Wales) Measure 2010
• Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015
• Environment (Wales) Act 2016
• Climate Change Strategy for Wales

The Welsh Government's Circular Economy Strategy for Wales Beyond Recycling, published in March 2021, is also listed, which the report pack says builds on the previous strategy and contains further targets for local authorities. These include:

• By 2025:
  • 26% reduction in waste
  • Zero waste to landfill
  • 50% reduction in avoidable food waste
  • 70% recycling
• By 2030
  • 33% reduction in waste
  • 60% reduction in avoidable food waste
• By 2050
  • One planet resource use
  • 62% reduction in the waste
  • Zero waste
  • Net zero carbon

Note: All waste reduction targets are set against a 2006-07 baseline

The report pack also mentions new policy drivers that have yet to be implemented, including:

• Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR)²
• Energy from Waste (EfW) Inclusion in Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)³
• Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)⁴

The report pack outlines the current waste collection services across the city:

• Residual Waste: Collected fortnightly in a 140L bin. This waste is sent to the Viridor Trident Park Energy from Waste facility.
• Food Waste: Collected weekly and processed at an anaerobic digestion facility operated by Welsh Water.
• Dry Recycling: Now collected using a segregated system:
  • Mixed Paper & Card: Presented in a reusable blue bag, collected weekly.
  • Metal, Plastic & Cartons: Presented in a reusable red bag, collected weekly.
  • Glass: Presented in a redesigned caddy, collected every two weeks.
• Garden Waste: Collected every two weeks, all year round, although pause over the Christmas period.
• Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP): Collected weekly.

The council also operates its own Waste Transfer Station, Household Waste Recycling Centres, and a Materials Recycling Facility at the Lamby Way depot.

Residents can also sign up for the Podback scheme to recycle coffee, tea and hot chocolate aluminium pods.

There are also a number of community recycling zones across the city where small items can be taken which are not collected from the kerbside e.g. household batteries, books, CDs, DVDs, ink cartridges, small electrical appliances (e.g. hairdryers, curling tongs etc)

Seagull proof sacks have also been provided recently to residents who do not have bins and use black bags to present their waste.

The report pack identifies a number of issues:

• The risk of substantial financial penalties for not reaching the previous recycling target (64% by 2019/20) and the current target, 70% by 2024/25 remains significant.
• The full year effect of the segregated kerbside recycling is still not known as the roll out was completed in spring 2025.
• Around 25,000 flatted properties remain on a comingled communal collection for the time being, rather than the segregated system used for kerbside households.
• A new recycling strategy needs to be written, to support the need to meet Welsh Government targets and encourage resident behaviour change.
• The budget situation for 2026/27 is currently unknown and how it may impact on service delivery with the need for efficiencies and savings.

Councillor Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene and Environmental Services has been invited to make a statement and answer Member's questions.