Monmouthshire County Council is to continue collecting nappy waste in translucent yellow bags until it finds a suitable alternative recycling facility reports STEPHEN PENN.

Many Monmouthshire residents were unhappy with the decision to use the yellow bags in the first place, fearing it was an invasion of privacy for the elderly and vulnerable who require the use of adult diapers.

But now the waste is no longer being recycled due to the closure of Knowaste, the company that dealt with it, more people are questioning the council's insistence on continuing with a separate, yellow bag collection.

One Abergavenny resident said, "If the nappies are not being recycled anymore, why is the council wasting money on a separate collection, and still using the bright obvious yellow bags?"

But the council insists it is looking for a new facility and in the meantime feels it is easier for residents to continue with the service procedures in place - because the yellow bags are collected more frequently than the grey bags for non-recyclable items.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said, "We are aware of a lot of movement and developments in the nappy recycling market – there is a lot of talk of new plants being built so we intend as soon as possible to start recycling this material again.

"Therefore we are continuing with the existing service to make it easier for our residents and also this material is collected weekly, while grey bags are collected fortnightly."

The council also says it has taken into consideration the sensitivities that some may have about the bags, and has agreed to help residents with alternatives to placing their bags on the street.

The council's waste strategy and resources manager, Rachel Jowitt, said, "We will work with any resident if they want to find a discreet place for this waste to be collected - including bins, behind gates, or back doors."

In 2012 Monmouthshire was among thre first local authorities in the UK to sign up to send nappies for recycling.

The council collected disposable nappies and other absorbent hygiene products (AHP) waste from 2,500 households sending the waste collected to the Knowaste AHP recycling plant in West Bromwich, West Midlands.

Knowaste Ltd, which sterilised the materials before recovering plastics and fibres for re-use, claimed it could recycle 95 per cent of material it received but closed its recycling centre earlier this year to pursue the building of a bigger facility within the region.

The council was informed on May 21 that the plant was being shut with immediate effect. It was then revealed that nappies and other abosrbent hygiene products would be send to landfill.

Speaking at the time Coucillor Bryan Jones said, "We are very disappointed that this has happened so suddenly. We have had no warning from the company that this was a possibility.

"Monmouthshire, with Cardiff, was the first Council in the UK to support this technology because it was innovative and far better than landfill. We have to explore these innovative technologies otherwise progress would never be made.

"This time unfortunately the initiative has not worked. But we will learn lessons and for our residents I can say with confidence that there will be no change to the service we are providing."

He added. "We are continuing to provide a separate collection of nappy waste whilst we review what options are available to us for the future. Any changes to the service will be advised to users well in advance."