A RECYCLING drive has increased the amount of waste being reused, a council leader has said. 

The ‘raise the rate’ campaign was introduced in April last year to try and increase the amount of items collected for recycling and ensure food waste is put out for weekly collection rather than being left in wheelie bins with general rubbish. 

Torfaen Borough Council announced the drive at the same time it said it was putting plans to only collect general waste once every three weeks on hold. 

It has considered reducing waste collections as in 2022/23 it only managed to achieve a 59 per cent recycling rate, and could face fines if it fails to achieve a 70 per cent recycling rate this year. 

Council leader Anthony Hunt told the council’s July meeting he wanted to thank residents, staff and councillors for work on the raise the rate campaign that has resulted in a six per cent increase in the recycling rate. 

The Panteg Labour councillor said the figures are still unverified but said “they are a huge leap forward” but said: “We’ve still got a long way to go but when we all put our minds to it we can take difficult decisions and can make real progress.”