The number of community recycling sites and rural storage point bins in Powys will be reduced following a decision by the county council’s cabinet.

Meeting today, the cabinet approved plans it said were designed to reduce costs and improve the quality of recycling throughout the county.

Powys has approximately 80 community recycling sites, also known as bring sites, for residents to take recyclable materials.

Councillor John Powell, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “Since the rollout of the kerbside recycling all households now have their recycling collected from the kerbside and this has resulted in a duplication of service which is not cost effective.

“The cost of operating these community sites is more than £300k a year and as with other councils in Wales their use has reduced since the introduction of kerbside recycling.

“We will now review the provision of these sites across the county following a detailed assessment on an area by area basis.”

The cabinet will also approved removing rural refuse storage containers to increase kerbside recycling and reduce fly tipping.

Rural refuse storage containers, also known as point bins, were originally provided for residents to store black bags prior to the then weekly collection.

Councillor Powell added: “With the rollout of the three-weekly residual waste collection, these point bins are no longer fit for purpose.

“In many cases they are used to fly tip and dump excess black sacks which is a blight on the countryside, hits our recycling targets and adds collection and disposal costs.

“Point bins will be removed wherever practicable and if possible, replaced with a wheeled bin for each property at the collection points. Providing an equitable service across Powys households will ensure that all residents contribute towards reaching targets and avoiding potential fines.”