Reusable bags have been successfully trialled with over 4000 households in Monmouthshire since November 2019.
In May 2019 Monmouthshire County Council declared a Climate Emergency, with unanimous support from Councillors. One of the agreed steps is to reduce our single use plastics and changing to reusable recycling bags will reduce the amount of single use plastic bags we use, benefiting the environment.
The recycling market prefers to receive the material loose so removing our plastic bags should reduce processing costs. Reusable bags can be used over and over again and so will cost less to supply than the single use plastic bags we currently use.

The new way of collecting recycling has worked well for our collection crews and it has reduced our single use plastics.

Residents on the trial were contacted in May 2020 with a survey to gather public feedback. We had 800 responses out of 2000 households – Thank you so much for your responses.

68% of those residents were happy to continue using the reusable bags in future.

Councilors agreed to permanently change to reusable bags for recycling collections in Monmouthshire. We are aiming for all households in Monmouthshire to be using reusable recycling bags in 2024. This will be done in a phased approach therefore you may see households in your local area not using reusable bags during this time.

Yes, reusable recycling bags will replace the current single use plastic bags for your weekly recycling collections. Once you have received your reusable bags, we will no longer collect recycling in the old single use plastic bags.

Currently approximately 50% of Monmouthshire’s recycling is collected in reusable bags, we have now begun delivering to the remaining households and all Monmouthshire’s recycling will be collected in reusable bags before Christmas 2024.

If you have received a leaflet and no bags, please complete the reusable bag delivery request form above.
If you have not received any correspondence about the reusable recycling bags and have not been delivered bags then the roll out has not reached you yet. If your neighbours have received bags and you believe you have been missed out, please us the above form.

You can write your house name/number in the box provided on the bags so they are easily identified.
Place your clean recycling inside the correct bag.
Use the Velcro seal to close the bag, this means the recycling will stay dry and securely contained. The bags are weighted to avoid them being blown away.
Place your bags in the usual place by 7am on the morning of collection.

All households will be delivered one red bag and one purple bag. Each bag will hold the equivalent recycling material of two of the previously supplied plastic bags. We know that this capacity will be adequate for most households. Provision can be made for households that produce a larger quantity of recycling. If you find you are having issues, please contact us.

There is a box on the bags which we ask all residents to put their house name/number on with permanent marker so they shouldn’t get mixed up.

Please bring your bags back in from the kerbside after collection and store them on your property.

The old single use red and purple bags will no longer be used for recycling collections. You can keep the bags for your personal use. Alternatively you can return them to us by putting them out next to your reusable recycling bags (once you have them) on your next recycling collection day. You can also return the bags to your local Community Hub.

In order to complete the roll out of bags we have been required to change collection days for the majority of Monmouthshire. Due to the slower nature of the collections, we will now collect our food waste in bespoke collection vehicles for all of Monmouthshire rather than with our recycling. So, in an attempt to keep collections of our waste streams together where possible we have changed the days to overall improve the way most residents waste is collected and have increased the percentage of same day collections across Monmouthshire. Unfortunately, we are unable to give all residents same day collections and some areas will have multiple, if you have issues with yours please fill in the above feedback form.

The items that should go in the bag are the same as your old red and purple bags. Red bag – paper and cardboard. Purple bag – tins and cans, plastic bottles, plastic tubs, trays and punnets and cartons. Please clean food residue from your recycling. The items must go into the reusable bag loose. Please do not put the old recycling bags inside your reusable bag.
Cartons (e.g. tetra paks) should now go into the purple recycling bag.

The original supply of bags have printing suggesting cartons go in the red bag. At the time of ordering bags for the trial in 2019 the recycling processors would take cartons with the paper and cardboard.

Since then, the recycling market has changed and it is now recommended that cartons go in the purple bag so they can be separated more easily for the other materials and therefore more will get recycled.

Please put cartons in the purple bag.

Shredded paper can be recycled in the red bag but please put it in a sealed cardboard box (e.g. cereal box) or within a paper envelope. This stops the shredded paper from getting stuck in your bag and reduces the chance of it escaping during the collection.

If you have difficulties carrying the bags, please contact us and our recycling officers will be able to help.

Any cardboard should be flattened and put inside your red recycling bag if possible. If you cannot fit the cardboard inside your bag you can place flat cardboard up to 1m² out for collection next to your recycling bag.

If a recycling bag contains the wrong items it will be stickered to show what the wrong items are and it will be not emptied. Residents should remove the contamination and the recycling will be collected on your next collection. A recycling officer will be available if you need help with your recycling.

We realise at certain times of the year including Christmas, a lot of households will produce extra recycling. Extra recycling can be placed out either within a cardboard box or a spare plastic box that the crews will empty and return (please keep red and purple material separate). Cardboard boxes can be flattened and placed out next to your bags (Maximum size 1m²).

Please only report waste not collected after 4pm on the day of collection. Please note that your food waste will collected at a different time of day to your recycling.
You can report a missed collection on the My Monmouthshire app or website, call 01633 644644 or visit your local Community Hub. If you register on the “My Monmouthshire” system you will receive updates on your report.

We advise all residents to wait before requesting more bags. This is because the bags have more capacity than the old single use plastic. If after a few weeks you still believe you need more bags please fill in the above form. (Extra recycling can be placed out either within a cardboard box or a spare plastic box that the crews will empty and return (please keep red and purple material separate).

We will no longer be supplying recycling bags to outlets; these will now only hold our food waste bags. HUBs will be stocking bags once the delivery’s to residents have been completed in December 2024. All bags that are collected by residents will be logged and if a resident collects an unusually high amount of bags one of our waste officers will visit. Find your nearest HUB here https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/community-hubs-and-libraries/