Keeping you up to date!

It seems that every week another concerning story emerges about the dangers caused by our excessive use of plastic to both society and the planet. This has inspired people to look for alternatives for the single-use plastics in their lives. It has also encouraged companies to create new materials that claim to be the solution to our plastic problem like bioplastics or biodegradable plastics. So, what are these materials, how are they any different to our usual plastic products and how should you dispose of them in Cardiff? What are these ‘eco’ plastics? There is an increasing number of alternative plastics that are emerging on the market and the benefits of these materials in comparison to conventional plastics are often debated in the industry, including how easy it is to dispose of them. The table shows a brief overview of the main plastic alternatives and whether they are recyclable. Plastic Type Description Logo Examples Recyclable? Biodegradable Plastics Plastics that under particular conditions are broken down naturally by living things e.g., soil, water, or compost. This can take varying lengths of time and will not necessarily result in something that is beneficial to the earth.   No certified standard Not recyclable […]

This week is Volunteers Week 2023, a week in which we take the time to recognise all our fantastic volunteers and your contribution to our communities. We want to thank each and every one of you who make such a difference to our city.  The time and dedication you all give is truly inspiring, and we are honoured as always to work alongside you all. Thank you to the amazing “Keep Tidy” Community groups all across the city whose actions and passion inspire and empower communities to come together and get stuck in with collective action.  Thank you to our amazing LWYL Litter Champions and Litter Heroes who take part independently but inspire others to get involved too – there are now over 600 Litter Champions and over 300 Litter Heroes. Thank you to our Big Sweepers, who in the Autumn cleared over 1500 bags of leaves from the streets. Thank you to all our Leave Only Paw Prints Champions and your four-legged friends who are leading by example and supporting your communities to take care of dog walking routes in the city. There are now over 200 of you! Thank you to all the Keep Wales Tidy Litter Champions […]

Tetra Pak’s or Cartons have become a familiar sight when out shopping. They contain juices, milks, chopped tomatoes and so much more. All over the world people are searching for a solution for the massive number of single-use plastics we get through as a society. And many people are wondering if they can reduce their single-use plastic use by switching to buying some products in Tetra Pak’s instead of plastic bottles. Tetra Pak’s have a low carbon footprint as they are light, and they are fully recyclable. However, the qualities that make it a great packaging material are also the qualities that cause issues when trying to recycle them. Tetra Pak’s are not made of cardboard as they may look but are in fact a mixed material. Made on average of layers of paperboard (70%), aluminium (5%), and polyethylene plastic (25%)! This variety of layers and how they are joined together actually makes Tetra Pak cartons difficult to recycle as each material must be separated. It is possible but as it is a specialised process many Councils, including Cardiff, do not accept them for recycling in your kerbside collection. Illustration of possible Tetra Pak material structure (credit to Packaging material […]

Love Where You Live would like to say a huge thank you to Cardiff’s volunteers and celebrate an incredible 12 months of action as part of Volunteers Week 2022. Adapting to various Covid-19 alert levels in 2021 and 2022, didn’t stop our volunteers taking part in a record amount of activity since April last year.  Over 5500 activities took place from April 2021 – April 2022, which resulted in 14,847 bags of litter collected – 858 of those were bags of recyclable material, diligently selected separated by volunteers whilst litter picking. Dedicated individual litter pickers and community group clean-ups organised by local residents managed a total of 14,663 volunteer hours between them over the last year, with new litter picking groups forming and record demand for the Litter Champion Scheme. Keep Wales Tidy and Cardiff Council work in partnership to support all volunteer activities. Charlotte, from Cardiff Council’s Love Where You Live campaign said: “From my first year co-ordinating Love Where You Live, I am so inspired by Cardiff’s incredible volunteers who freely give their time and energy to improve our city. We are so very lucky and honoured to work with such amazing people, who take action, make such […]

What is the ‘Leave Only Pawprints’ campaign? It is a non-confrontational, friendly way to change attitudes and behaviours around dog fouling. Dog owners and their dogs sign up to become local Champions, signing the Pledge, and can be recognised by small ‘Leave Only Pawprint’ badges. They carry extra bags so if another dog owner doesn’t have one they can ask a Champion. The Leave Only Pawprints Pledge I will at all times clean up after my dog and dispose  of the bag appropriately. Myself and my dog will wear our Champion badges when possible to show others we are Champions. I will carry extra bags that I will give to people if needed. Whilst being a Champion I will not confront other dog walkers about dog fouling. I understand that the ‘Leave Only Pawprints’ campaign is non-confrontational and is a friendly reminder to other dog walkers in order to change attitudes and behaviour. I agree to take part in campaign surveys by Cardiff Council. To find out more, get in contact with the team on 029 2071 7564 or lovewhereyoulive@cardiff.gov.uk or sign-up here. And don’t forget you can report instances of dog fouling via the Cardiff Council App.

Christmas is for many a joyful and festive time of year where friends and family come together. Unfortunately, it also often leads to a lot of excess waste being produced. You may have been thinking, how can I reduce the amount of waste produced in my home this Christmas? Well, we have some suggestions for small ways that you can reduce your waste and have a more sustainable Christmas! You can try one or two, or even all of them! Food: Plan your Christmas dinner and food for the amount of people you’re feeding and try not to overbuy food. Love Food Hate Waste have created a portion planner to help! Make use of any leftovers by making them into another meal, here is some recipe ideas to get you started. If you do have some food you can’t use up or waste products (e.g., bones or vegetable peelings), make sure they go into your food waste caddies so it will be used for energy creation. Looking for some more inspiration to reduce your food waste this year, Love Food Hate Waste has some great tips. Wrapping: Many wrapping papers are not recyclable and when in recycling bags it very […]

You may have seen volunteer litter pickers in action or have maybe spotted pink or red bags next to litter bins ready for collection.  Our city has an ever-growing movement of incredible people, making Cardiff a tidier place to be.  We would like to say a huge thank-you to every single volunteer, for the huge difference you make to our city, we are so lucky to have you. If you’re interested in taking part, but not sure how to get involved, read on to discover the different options available. Join a litter pick with your local group There are many established litter picking groups across Cardiff, who do an incredible job organising litter pick events for residents to join in.  These events are great to meet other like-minded people and see the impact of a collective effort.  If you like the idea of social and visible litter picking, this would be the option for you. You can find details of the different groups and a calendar of activity on our community page. If there isn’t already a group in your area and you are interested in starting one, Keep Wales Tidy will be able to help you get started. Want […]

Fly tipping blights our communities, posing a problem to our health, society, and the environment. But what is it, why does it happen and what can you do to help! What is Fly-Tipping? Fly-tipping is the illegal act of dumping items next to a road, in a lane, at industrial estates, in fields, in rivers, or private land without permission. This could include furniture, building materials, garden waste, general household waste or even hazardous materials. Disposing of waste in this way is illegal and in Cardiff Fixed penalties up to £400 can be issued for small scale fly tipping and for larger deposits there is a maximum possible fine of £50,000 or even a prison sentence. There are not only financial costs associated with fly tipping but also environmental and social ones. A few of the issues it causes are being a target for arsonists, some plastics ending up in the eco system and it has a negative impact on tourism. Meaning that time and money that could be spent on other projects to improve our environment and communities is being used to clear up after others. According to Stats Wales in 2019/20, the total number of fly tipping incidents […]

When looking at the amount of litter in our streets it can sometimes feel like a bit of a daunting challenge to clear up it all up. Group litter picking can be a great opportunity to meet your community and get in some time helping to Keep Cardiff Tidy. Group Litter Picking All our Litter Champions do an amazing job helping to clean up their local environment and group events offer up the opportunity for everyone to meet other like minded people. Often when starting litter picking people may not know where to start, but by holding group activities we can help people get used to the dos and don’ts of safe litter picking. It also allows us to cover a wider area of land and pick up loads of litter! Which is not only great for the community but also the wildlife that lives there. They create a great community spirit and help encourage others to get involved and be active in their local communities! How can you get involved? If you are interested in getting involved with one of Cardiff’s local litter picking groups follow this link and you will be able to see what groups are in […]

When spring returns and the sun shines, we all want to get out and enjoy ourselves in the parks and green spaces of our city. But when we are ready to leave what happens to our waste? Waste in Cardiff’s Parks In the spring and summer months Cardiff Council provide extra bins and expand our team of cleansing staff, to keep Cardiff’s parks looking their best. This is part of our commitment to keep Cardiff’s green spaces clean and healthy for both our residents and the environment. How Can Residents Help? The assistance Cardiff’s residents provide in maintaining our green spaces is greatly valued and we are sure you are wondering how you can help? One way is to help us prevent overflowing bins, if you have waste and the bin is full, please wait till you find another one or even better you can take it home to dispose of. Litter from over flowing bins that is blown into the environment can be harmful to both wildlife and the public. Additionally by taking your waste home you are giving it the opportunity to be recycled or if it is not recyclable to be disposed of safely. How to Plan […]

Do you want to help keep the streets of Cardiff tidy?  Why not sign up to become one of our ever-growing, “Love Where You Live” litter champions? We have pink community bags for our volunteers. These can then be left by any council street or park bin and our cleansing crews will collect on their rounds. To sign up get in contact with the team on 029 2071 7564 or lovewhereyoulive@cardiff.gov.uk and we will get all the information out to you.   Published: 06/11/2020

Here at Love Where You Live, we all love trees. We know that trees and plants play a key role in making our neighbourhoods attractive and safe places to live. Unfortunately, there are some people that don’t love trees as much as us. Trees on our streets can become a hotspot for litter and fly-tipping. The seagulls love this – but we don’t. So in July the Love Where You Live team held a poster competition around the message ‘I’m a tree- not a bin – Coeden ydw i – nid bin’. We had some many fabulous entries to the competition, but in the end we choose one Adult winner, one Child winner and 4 runners-up. The two winning designs have been printed and will be appearing on problem hotspots that we know about. However all 6 designs are available here for you to download, either for use on social media, or to display in an area near you. The winning designs are by John, and Beulah (aged 7). The runner-up designs are by Cathy and Alexis (with help from daughter Jorga-Mae) and Eleri (aged 11) and Ava (aged 10). To download the posters click on each of the designs, […]

Whether you are out with your Scouting or Guiding unit, or at home – it’s easy to earn a Love Where You Live badge, so why not give it a go? It’s completely free to take part and we can send badges to your unit. You could hold a litter pick with your unit, or if that’s not your cup of cocoa there are plenty of ideas and resources to earn your badges below.  For more information on how to arrange a litter pick, simply email lovewhereyoulive@cardiff.gov.uk

Cardiff Council are pleased to welcome Penny Bowers as volunteer ambassador for the Leave Only Pawprints campaign, a friendly, non-confrontational way to tackle attitudes and behaviours around dog fouling. Penny, from Llandaff North, comes from a background of working with dogs and her impressive resume includes Chair at Friends of Hailey Park, Social Media Officer for Cardiff Dogs Action and Four Paws Foster Carer and Fundraiser. Penny also hosts two dog shows a year in Cardiff and has been fostering dogs for the past 17 years. A Cardiff Council spokesperson said, “We are thrilled to welcome Penny on board as a figurehead for the Leave Only Pawprints campaign. Penny’s an advocate of speaking about responsible dog ownership, having been a dog owner for 50 years.” “We look forward to working with Penny at the forefront of the campaign, promoting our Leave Only Pawprints message across the city. We’ll be working with Penny to meet with dog groups, networks, charities and vets. In the New Year we’ll launch pop-ups across our Cardiff parks where we encourage residents to come along, meet fellow dog walkers and learn more about the campaign.” Penny said, “I’m delighted to be part of the Leave Only […]

Cardiff Rivers Group founder member Dave King has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list “for services to the environment”. Dave set up Cardiff Rivers Group in 2009 and a decade later, the group has gone from strength to strength with an excellent committee and over 600 supporters and volunteers on their membership list, working with organisations and companies including Cardiff Council, Viridor, Cardiff Parks Services, Natural Resources Wales, Love Where You Live, McDonalds and South Wales Police. In parallel to setting up Cardiff Rivers Group, Dave started Keep Grangetown Tidy and was instrumental in getting Keep Splott Tidy off the ground. He also set up ‘Dusty Shed’ – a charity that aims to help men in social isolation.   Dave said: “I was in complete shock when I received the letter from the Cabinet Office. My wife and dad cried when I told them. It’s been lovely, really touching, people have been very kind to me. When we first moved to Cardiff from Surrey 11 years ago we lived by Channel View and the view was lovely but what struck me was the amount of litter in the River Taff, so I contacted Keep Wales Tidy […]

Cardiff River gets the litter locust treatment 50 volunteers gave up their Saturday to tackle one bend on the River Rhymney that had collected thousands of plastic bottles and lots of other waste. This section of the river had never been cleansed before and volunteers were shocked by the sheer amount of waste present. However, in less than 2 hours, the team of litter locusts completely cleared the area! They collected 150 blue bags of plastics for recycling by Terracycle (will be made in to new shampoo bottles) and 6 builders sacks of large plastic items; 4 barrels, 8 traffic cones, a chair, table top, 25 bags of mixed recycling, 10 car wheels/tyres, 14 gas bottles, 2 fire extinguishers, 2 fridges, 2 fridge freezers, 60 bags and 5 builders sacks of general waste for incineration. They also collected 10 eight-foot building crash mats filled with polystyrene, 2 containers of engine oil, a ladder, a gigantic water bowser, and 2 bags of footballs! Photos can be seen here https://www.flickr.com/photos/47355989@N07/albums/72157665244439987 Nigel Barry, committee member said, “There were so many new faces today, loads of them! I can’t help thinking that the Blue Planet program is continuing to change people’s attitudes and Cardiff […]

According to environmental charity Hubbub, up to 7 million coffee cups are thrown away across the UK every day! It is a shocking statistic, but in the UK only 0.25% of single use coffee cups are recycled according to the UK Environmental Audit Committee (EAC). Why is this so? Well, the issue with coffee cups (and other drinks cartons for that matter) is the mix of card and plastic film inside the card, which is particularly difficult to separate for recycling and needs additional treatment, which is very expensive. There is no slowing down the popularity of take away coffee, so to deal with the environmental impact of the single use cups, the EAC have requested the UK government to consider a 25p levy, to encourage consumer behaviour change, building on the evidenced success of the carrier bag charge. However, the Government has rejected the levy in favour of voluntary commitments from businesses such as discounts for customers opting for reusable cups and improved labelling and recycling information on the single use cups. Therefore, in conclusion, as coffee cups are difficult and expensive to recycle and coffee shops are commonly offering discounts for customers using their own cup, it is […]

Whitchurch PACT and McDonalds making a difference in Whitchurch Whitchurch PACT has long championed for a clean and tidy Whitchurch, and a particular problem area is Longwood Drive, just off Coryton Roundabout. So they took action and long with the local McDonalds and other volunteer residents go out once a quarter to give it a good litter pick. Read what the group got up to at their latest pick: COMMUNITY LITTER PICK The weather was cold but it didn’t stop 16 volunteers coming together to litter pick Longwood Drive, Coryton. Sadly this road is continually littered by vehicle owners that choose to discard their litter into our Nature reserve, even though there are bins. Longwood Drive is used by car sharers, when they return to their vehicles many people choose to throw out their day’s lunch rubbish, cans, bottles, and even their used work boots and tabards, emptying their vans of their daily or weekly rubbish. Many who use the local outlets also do the same with their coffee cups or fast food packaging. This band of volunteers collected 26 bags of rubbish, along with fly tipping included a printer, large metal pipe, car jack, a very large plastic bottle […]

That is the message from our friends at “Love Your Clothes” and it is easier than you may think. Repair cafés are popping up around the city and inspired by the ethos, I went along to a Love Your Clothes workshop to learn a trick or two, to make some of my favourite garments last that bit longer. The truth is that I do own a sewing machine. I inherited it as a child from a great Aunt. My other confession is that I have never used it, intimidated by its complicated appearance and opting instead for my untidy hand stitching. I am used to making-do, but my mending skills leave much to be desired for. During the love your clothes workshop, I learned how to thread a sewing machine, shorten and hem a pair of trousers and repair a hole in an old favourite, giving it a new lease of life. However, what surprised me was how easy it was (so much easier than doing it by hand!) Nevertheless, if you do not have a sewing machine, not to worry. Love Your Clothes have created a number of handy video tutorials ranging from repairing a hole in your pocket […]

Good Gym – A Litter Pick of Llandaff in our lives Report written by Lucy Give us more!! After a damp and soggy Cardiff Park run, 13 GoodGym Cardiff runners wanted more! More distance to run and more good deeds for that January challenge target. So off we set running just over a mile to the Llandaff North and Gabalfa Hub for a litter pick. On our arrival we met Jen, who works at the Hub and had some gratefully received water ready for us. Jen explained what we would be doing on the task and which streets we would focus on with our litter pick and handed out the equipment for us to use. We did a quick headcount and welcomed new runner Nicola to the run… hope you enjoyed it and will be back again (hopefully the rubbish weather won’t put you off!) It’s all about the rubbish! After a health and safety brief, (including don’t try to litter pick each other) and group photo outside the Hub we were off like a regiment heading into battle armed with our litter pickers and pink plastic bags. Most of us paired up to tackle a particular side of the […]

Did you know that in the UK, we are wasting 5 million tonnes of edible food at home each year? In fact, the average family of four could save £70 each month by reducing food waste and becoming more savvy with their shopping and storage. Luckily, our friends at Love Food Hate Waste have some good tips to help us get back on track and set some good food shopping habits. It Pays to Plan Planning your meals is the best way avoid food waste and to save money. Before you go shopping, check what’s already in your fridge, freezer and store cupboard. Write a shopping list and stick to it so you’re not tempted by offers that you don’t need or really want. Know your Dates Misunderstanding of food date labels is a common cause of throwing away food that is perfectly good to eat. The ‘use by’ date refers to the food safety expiration date. Do not eat food after this date but remember to remove it from its packaging and put into your brown food caddy for weekly collection. The best before date refers to food quality rather than safety. These date labels are more flexible as […]

We have all been in that situation where we are not sure whether some packaging can be recycled or not. In some instances, the packing will show a recycling symbol, but then local authorities say they cannot recycle the item. It is no wonder we get so confused! Therefore, to explain, we’ve taken a closer look to solve the mystery of different recycling symbols.   The Mobius Loop This is an international symbol explaining that somewhere on the planet, it is possible to recycle the packaging, however it does not take into account how local recycling is processed. Therefore it is best to double check what your local council can recycle.   The Green Dot This is not actually a recycling symbol. It is used in some European Countries (not the UK) to show the producer has paid a tax towards recovering packaging to recycle. Therefore, it typically appears on packaging produced elsewhere in Europe.   The Recyclable Aluminium Symbol This typically appears on aluminium cans and containers to remind customers that this material is commonly recycled. Kitchen foil is treated differently as often has a lot of food residue on it and can be difficult to separate from other […]

Llanrumney Greggs sponsored its first community litter pick and it was great! Three members of the Greggs team came out from behind the counter on a cold but sunny morning, and joined 6 community volunteers, as well as the wonderful eco committee from St. Cadoc’s Primary School. 13 young people joined, along with 3 teachers to help clean up the local area. It was a lovely couple of hours, and we managed to clear 24 bags of litter from the area surrounding Countisbury area, making it look shiny and new. Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to see everyone working together. Local residents were very positive about the pick and the kids received lots of compliments about what a great job they did. At the end, we all headed back to Greggs for a free cuppa to celebrate the morning’s success, with the kids all having a well-deserved hot chocolate, and the rest of us on the coffee. Customers came over to give their thanks and many said they would love to join us on the next one. One volunteer was so pleased with the litter pick that she has signed up to become a Litter Champ […]

Last week Wales and West Housing invited me along to one of their sheltered schemes to help the residents with their own ‘Big Sweep’. It was a lovely afternoon, I meet some really nice people, the place looked lovely when we were finished and we even found a frog! But the real star of the afternoon was Pete. Pete has been living in the scheme in Pontcanna for just over 10 years and used to love being out and about. Over the last few years his health has declined and he hasn’t been able to do as much as he would have liked. But the Big Sweep gave him the perfect opportunity to get involved, and he loved it! Together with the scheme manager, Pete first helped clear the garden of leaves, and covered up the furniture for the winter. This is where we met the rather startled frog, but he soon happily hopped off back into the undergrowth. Pete told me that they get lots of wildlife in the scheme from bugs to birds, which is part of the reason he likes living there so much.            Next we turned out attention to the car park. Wet leaves […]

Our Love Where You Live Champion scheme is now live! We launched the initiative from the Grangetown hub on a sunny Wednesday morning with 15 people turning up to celebrate the occasion with us. The scheme allows people to sign up for a Love Where You Live Library card and then they can borrow litter-picking equipment from the hub at a time that suits them. It was a great day, with Councillor Henshaw kicking off proceedings by thanking everyone for coming and explaining how delighted she is with the scheme. As a volunteer with Keep Splott Tidy herself being able to open up environmental volunteering to more people across Cardiff is something she sees as really important. After the introduction, we then headed out for a litter pick of the area and collected 28 bags in just under an hour. Luckily, tea and cake awaited our return, and was very much deserved. With us at the launch were representatives from Keep Grangetown Tidy and Keep Splott Tidy, as well as Keep Wales Tidy litter champions from across the city. It was great to see everyone come together for the event and share their inspiring stories. Volunteers make such a huge […]

The problem of ocean plastic pollution is hot topic, highlighted by the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 program. It can be difficult to make the connection between recycling at home and ocean plastic, but human impact on the environment is essentially down to taking personal responsibility for our consumer habits. It is estimated that there is about 165 million tonnes of plastic pollution in the ocean and that by 2050; the ocean could potentially contain more plastic than fish (Ellen McArthur Foundation). How does plastic end up in the ocean? Much of the plastic that we consume is designed to be used once and thrown away, however if plastic is not disposed of responsibly, it can easily enter watercourses. Plastic in landfills (and in our neighbourhoods) can become displaced as litter and litter can follow its way to the sea via storm drains and on the breeze. Plastic is a substance that is unique in that it does not break down as much as break apart. Therefore, the accumulation of plastics in the ocean is ever growing which poses great issue for marine wildlife. Nevertheless, a problem of this scale can feel overwhelming for individuals to make a positive impact. So […]

This week we visited the lovely St Bernadette’s school in Pentwyn to talk to the kids about the importance of not dropping litter. It was a busy day meeting all 9 classes, from nursery all the way to Year 6. We discovered lots of facts about how dropping litter can impact the environment, particularly the wonderful wildlife that lives locally. And the Year 6 class guessed all most spot on how long different types of litter takes to biodegrade. Who knew a coke can could take up to 1000 years?! We also learned about what could be recycled, what should go in the food waste bins and what needed to be thrown away. All the kids were surprised that we don’t use landfills anymore. Instead all general waste now goes straight to Viridor and we burn it. It then gets turned into aggregate for roads. Not only did we litter pick the school, Year 6 also tackled the local lanes, filling two full bags with crisp packets, bottles and cans and anything else they came across. From the school we picked 4 bags worth of rubbish, and the nursery children ensured that their snack milk bottles went straight into the recycling. […]

Last Saturday I went out on one of Keep Roath Tidy’s weekly litter picks. 16 wonderful volunteers attended and collected well over 30 bags of litter. With so many volunteers, we managed to tackle a huge area, making a real impact on some of those streets that the group don’t normally get to. Keep Roath Tidy have been going for the last 2 years, headed up by a committee of 8 local residents who volunteer their time regularly to make a difference to where they live. Over this time they have collected an outstanding 1476 bags of rubbish between them. The benefit of this activity also reaches beyond an improved street scene.  Jennifer Jones who leads KRT describes her aim to “organise weekly litter picks which allow local residents to become involved in voluntary activity close to their home, improving health and wellbeing of people in the local community, and helping people to feel directly engaged in their local community”. And they certainly are doing this. After our hour and a half of litter picking the group rocked up to Roath Farmer’s Market for a coffee and a chat. The social element of the group is great and there is […]

Here in Cardiff, we no longer send our waste that cannot be recycled to landfill; it is processed to create energy and you can read our blog to find out more.  However, the landfill site at Lamby Way still needs to be carefully managed to keep it safe and to ensure the land can be used in the future. We caught up with landfill manager Gareth Ffoulkes to learn more about the workings of the landfill, it’s history and how he manages the land to make it safe for future use. Can you explain the history of the landfill? The landfill opened in 1976 after the river Rumney got diverted.  .  To build lamby way East they had to drain the salt marshes and create a series of drainage reens.  Lamby way East was originally due for closure in 2002 but since it opened in the 70’s we have recycled more and more, diverting waste from landfill, giving more landfill space, so it has been extended to summer 2017. When was the landfill capped? Lamby Way was fully capped in 2018.  The capping is the process of ceiling the landfill to make sure no contamination comes out and nothing under […]

Today the Love Where You Live team took part in a community litter pick organised by Keep Wales Tidy in conjunction with eXXpedition Round Britain 2017 at Cardiff Pointe. It was a fantastic event with 67 people turning up. All together 96 bags of litter were collected; 24 bags of recycling and 72 bags of general waste. So many different people supported the event, from local Cardiff Point residents, to litter champs throughout the city. Other groups included Keep Grangetown Tidy, Green Days, Tidy Taff and the Cardiff Rivers Group who all turned up en masse to support the event. Another amazing chap turned up – who is 18 months in to walking the coastal path of the UK, picking up litter as he goes. Wayne Dixon, and is dog Koda, having already walked from Lancashire to Scotland last year, this year headed south in January and have just made it to Cardiff. He has an amazing blog about his time at: https://www.facebook.com/wayne.dixon.7543 He said ‘I have never seen a turn out as big as this. 67 people is just amazing. I have loved walking through Wales and meeting so many lovely friendly people’ Wayne is raising money for MIND […]

This week we headed out to Gabalfa with Keep Wales Tidy and Llandaff North and Gabalfa Litter Pickers. The area was covered with litter when we started but our 4 volunteers and 2 staff litter picked for 1 and half hours and collected 12 bags of rubbish. It made a noticeable difference to the area surrounding the Master Gunner Pub up to Llandaff North and Gabalfa hub. As well as litter picking the area the gardening group based at the hub ‘Fork and Trowel’ received a community street planter this Friday to further brighten up the area, and help with the wider ‘green up; clean up’ initiative. The gardening group meets every Friday at the hub from 10am and they are always looking for more people to come and join them and Love Where They Live!   Published: 06/09/2017

Here at waste management HQ, we are excited to announce that the new and improved recycling centre at Lamby Way is officially open! The new £1.2m recycling centre at Lamby Way is now the biggest in the capital city, with space to allow eight times as many cars to use the site at any one time than were able to before. The new Lamby Way site has 20 different waste containers, which can collect a host of different products for recycling including new materials; hard plastic, carpets, tyres and UpVC windows. This means it will be easier than ever before to recycle more than ever before! Cllr Michael Michael, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment, said: “This facility has been designed so that the public can separate as many products as possible for recycling and that’s important because more and more of us are trying to do what we can to help the planet.” If you have never used a recycling centre before, there are a huge variety of things that can be recycled in Cardiff that are not suitable to recycle in the green bag collections. So if you are throwing out lightbulbs, scrap metal or electrical […]

If you go down to Lamby Way Depot, you might just meet one of our more unusual team members – our feathered friends, the Harris Hawks. It is not every workplace that has birds of prey on the roster, so we had a chat with the Falconer to find out a little more… Why are there Hawks on duty at the landfill? The hawk was originally brought in for seagull control of the landfill. As the landfill closed to active waste the HAWK moved toward the MRF section of Lamby Way, as the seagulls specifically fed off the glass. Some measure of bird control is required under Lamby way Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit. How much ground can your Hawk cover before needing to back to the handler? The landfill gives off enough heat it can generate its own thermal current, because of this the hawk can stay aloft using very little energy for over an hour at a time. Why do we still rely on a Hawk to do this job in the twenty first century? The hawk is simply the best tool for the job, the profile of the Hawk is hard wired into seagulls to cause […]

If recycling was a competitive sport, it appears that we would be on the podium! It is not uncommon for us to hear stories in the news about extraordinary recycling rates in countries such as Sweden, who report a 99% recycling rate. However, this huge rate is only true, if incinerating residual waste to recover energy counts towards recycling. Which in Sweden it must do, however in Wales; we do not report this as recycling, even though it is how residual waste is processed in Cardiff. So the issue exists that it is very difficult to take recycling rates at face value, when different countries have significant variations in what they count towards recycling. However a report has recently been released by Eunomia Research and Consulting which tackles these discrepancies in an effort to produce a global recycling league table that reflect common reporting methods. And the news for us is good… *MSW stands for Municipal Solid Waste. Germany has lived up to its reputation to hold onto the top spot, Taiwan comes in second and as a largely manufacturing economy, much emphasis is put on producer responsibility. Therefore recycling is very much in the culture. Wales comes in third […]

Did you know that waste that cannot be recycled in Cardiff is used as a resource to generate electricity? Cardiff’s Energy Recovery Facility is operated by Viridor and handles 350,000 tonnes of residual waste per year, generating 30MW of electricity. That’s enough to power 50’000 households! There is a lot of science going on behind this state of the art technology so we caught up with Mark Poole from Viridor to find out more. What job do you do for Viridor? Educational Centre and Community benefits Manager. I deliver all sites visits ranging from primary schools to politicians. Part of my role is to help promote the Cardiff Community Fund in partnership with Prosiect Gwyrdd. The fund donates up to £50,000 a year to local charitable organisations That sounds exciting. How many communities have you helped with the community benefit fund already? We have helped 16 organisations so far this year and donated £37,261. Working with communities is an important part of my role and we volunteer our services with organisations around our area, such as Keep Splott Tidy by helping in community litter picks. Why is Energy Recovery better than landfill? It provides clean renewable energy either in the […]

Have you ever wondered what our Neighbourhood Services Education and Enforcement team do across the City? Well, to make our City look clean and tidy we have a dedicated team of Officers that work between 6am and 11pm, out on streets daily dealing with waste related offences. Officers cover different wards of the City; they build rapport with communities, local businesses and build relationships within the community and residents to make sure waste is disposed the correct way to improve our street scene. The officers tackle legislation from the Environmental Protection Act 1990 including waste related offences such as Section 46, in which a household has history of incorrect presentation of waste.  This means putting waste out on the wrong day or presenting side waste outside of the wheelie bin.  When residents are in breach of the section 46 notice and evidence is gathered, a fixed penalty of £100 is issued to discharge liability for prosecution.  If left unpaid the case proceeds to magistrate court for prosecution. Incidents can occur in communities where rubbish is dumped in front of businesses, inside and outside commercial wheelie bins.  Officers in that particular ward will investigate whether there is evidence around the commercial […]

Here in Cardiff there are lots of amazing people working on amazing projects with sustainability in mind.  Cardiff Cycle Workshop is an award winning bike recycling centre, located just off the Taff Trail who recondition abandoned or unwanted bikes to give them a new lease of life.  The City of Cardiff Council have been donating bikes from our Household Waste Recycling Centre for some time.  We caught up with Workshop coordinator Jon Howes to find out a little bit more. Jon, can you tell me about your roll at Cardiff Cycle Workshop? I am the Workshop Coordinator, which is snappy title for a very varied role. Day to day, I make sure that the workshop is running as efficiently as possible; managing staff and volunteer rotas, recruiting volunteers, maintaining stock levels, keeping the workshop organised etc. I also deal with enquiries from the public regarding bike sales, donations and repairs, as well as running sales, collecting bikes and carrying out repairs. How many bikes do you normally get donated by the Household Waste Recycling centres every month and what happens to them? We probably collect on average around 40 bikes a month from the HWRC’s, less in the winter and […]

Have you ever wondered exactly what is in the household bins and litter bins of Cardiff?  Well, probably not but here at City of Cardiff Council, the contents of your bin provides great information to make sure the services we provide, reflect the changing waste habits of the city. We use a technique called Composition Analysis, where we roll up our sleeves, put on our gloves and literally sort the contents of bins by hand into different categories.  Its not a glamorous job but it means that we can see how much of the right stuff is going into the right bin and create specific campaigns to help people recycle more. If you are concerned about us rooting through your rubbish – don’t be.  We contact all residents who these studies may affect before they begin. Analysis of this kind occurs all over the UK and, helping us in Cardiff is the national sustainability organisation WRAP, which is currently studying the composition of the city’s street litter (from bins and litter picks).  This will help us to understand what type of waste we dispose of when we’re out and about and will most likely be the foundation for a campaign […]

The best thing we can do with our food is to enjoy it.  But some food waste is unavoidable and have you ever wondered what happens to the contents of your brown food caddies?  In Cardiff, we turn food waste into a carbon neutral biofuel through a process called Anaerobic Digestion.  You can find out more about how Anaerobic Digestion works here. This process is happening right here in Cardiff, keeping transport miles to an absolute minimum. In fact your food waste creates enough renewable energy to power 4000 homes, turning waste into a resource, benefitting the fight against climate change. The facility officially opened with a celebratory event on the 8th March 2017.  The event, starting at City Hall and finishing at the Kelda site marked the grand opening with the unveiling of plaque. Did you know that all raw and cooked foods can be recycled in your brown food caddy and that recycling 6 tea bags creates enough energy to boil the kettle for another cuppa?   Published: 31/03/2017