Business owners in Cardiff say the new recycling law is unfair and making it harder for them to survive.
The law would be effective from April 6, 2024, legally requiring businesses to sort their waste for recycling. There will also be a ban on sending food waste to sewers, separately collected waste going to incineration and landfill and all wood waste going to landfill.
Some local business owners believe that the law comes with real practical issues which have not been considered by the government. Barki Ismailaj, is the manager of The Greek Village restaurant in the city centre. He says ” It gets really busy on weekends, match days their simply isn’t time for us to sort the waste”.
The owners of food business say that their business have not been doing great since Covid and the law imposes unnecessary expenses. ” While it’s a good for the environment, It’s new expenses, you have to buy new bins, train staff, and there aren’t enough sales, people are not spending money on food anymore” says Barki.
In an interview with The Pembrokeshire Herald, Paul Jackson, a waste expert says. “Adapting to these new regulations could cost operators thousands of pounds, all of which will inevitably have to be passed back to the customer, this is despite the fact that most recycling facilities in the commercial sector were designed to treat mixed recyclables. Many will now have to spend more in investments to manage these new single waste streams.”
In an article in Energy Live News, Welsh Climate Change Minister Julie James says ” It is important that this collective effort stems right from the biggest businesses and organisations to the smallest in helping to tackle the climate and nature emergency and improve recycling”.