Cardiff Council hails ‘successful’ collection scheme but some say their trees were ignored
RESIDENTS across Cardiff say they have been left with rotting Christmas trees on their doorsteps, despite putting the trees out in time for the council’s collection dates.
The dates for the Christmas tree collection scheme varied depending on the area of Cardiff – for example, Canton’s was January 17 – but residents whose trees have not been collected say they put their trees out in time.
The original collection dates were posted on Cardiff Council’s social media:
- January 10: Pentyrch, Creigiau, Radyr and Morganstown, Whitchurch, Heath West
- January 11: Heath East, Llandaff North, Llandaff, Gabalfa, Cathays
- January 12: Old St Mellons, Trowbridge, Llanrumney, Rumney
- January 13: Tongwynlais, Rhiwbina, Llanishen, Lisvane, Cyncoed
- January 17: St Fagans, Fairwater, Ely, Caerau
- January 18: Canton, Riverside, Grangetown
- January 19: Plasnewydd, Adamsdown, Splott, Butetown
- January 20: Pontprennau, Pentwyn, Penylan
According to council figures, 131 tonnes of trees were collected in January. This is an increase on last year’s 81 tonnes in the same time frame.
Despite this, residents are claiming that their trees were ignored on the advertised collection day.
“I put my tree out on January 19, which was the advertised date for Roath,” said Flo Lewis, 28, of Alfred Street in Roath.
“As you can see it is still here and getting more and more brown by the day.
“My car is too small to take it to the tip and I don’t want to make a mess of it. I also don’t have the equipment to chop it up to put it in recycling bags.
“On the Cardiff Council app I can report missed collections for food and household waste, but can’t see anything to report the massive tree on the pavement outside. I would hate for someone to trip over it.”
Trees are still visible on Cathedral Road, Pontcanna, among other places.
In previous years, the council publicised on social media various drop-off points people could take their trees. There is no evidence this was the case this year.
The council says it did advertise a drop-off scheme at recycling centres for people who missed the original collection date. They also say a page on their website was available to report any missed collection. This has since been taken down.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The amount of Christmas trees collected from the streets of Cardiff was significantly more than last year. We would like to thank the public for their patience while these collections took place.”
What to do if you still have a Christmas tree
If you still have a Christmas tree, Cardiff Council advises you to take it to a recycling centre so that they can be properly disposed of. The trees must be halved if they are more than six foot tall.
The trees are then taken to a composting facility on Lamby Way to be shredded and added to the existing green waste to be composted.
If this is not possible, then the Royal Horticultural Society have advice on how to sustainably compost a Christmas tree in your garden here.
If you do not have a grass garden, then the trees can be broken up and recycled as garden waste in green bins only. You can register to have garden waste collected if you do not have a bin through the council’s C2C scheme.
