Residents in Llangollen have complained about Denbighshire Council’s roll-out of its new recycling scheme, claiming it won’t work.

Denbighshire County Council insists that “teething problems” are inevitable.

This week, the council is rolling out its new Trolibocs system, which will collect paper, plastic, metal, food cartons and glass.

The council is expecting residents to separate the items themselves to help cut costs. A weighted hessian bag will also now be used for cardboard.

Rubbish collections are now collected every four weeks as opposed to the old two-week system.

Resident Stuart Davies of Fron Bache, Llangollen, a former county councillor and deputy leader of the authority, is unimpressed with the new scheme.

“We live on a little narrow lane, and the wagon can’t get up here,” he said.

“They haven’t checked out whether they can get machinery to our houses.

The Leader: Denbighshire leader Cllr Jason McLellan with one of the council's new recycling 'Trolibocs on wheels'Denbighshire leader Cllr Jason McLellan with one of the council's new recycling 'Trolibocs on wheels' (Image: Submitted)

“We live in a rural area.

“In Rhyl it’s fine because they’ve got roads and access, but when you live in a little lane not wide enough to get a transit van up, they can’t get the machinery here.

“The council’s head of service has just been on to me and said what a wonderful job the staff are doing. I said no you’re not.

“The council staff were also told to drop some hessian black bags off to us.

“But this morning I got a knock at my door, and there was a van with ten Trolibocs for my address. It is a cock-up. It is not going to work.

“They delivered the Trolibocs and all the rest of it with the wrong instructions. That puzzled everybody. They never told us what day they were going to change the collection to.”

Mr Davies said he is doubtful that all Denbighshire residents are on board with the new scheme.

“I think they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. They are trying to roll it out across the whole of the county instead of getting used to it,” he said.

“They are threatening you can only put one general rubbish bag out whereas people are used to doing other things.

“They’ve said you must take the lids off bottles and you must wash them.

“Well, that makes a mockery of being green, doesn’t it?

“And can you imagine what’s going to happen when the mayonnaise or jam jar goes in the recycling with the lid on?

“Do you think everybody is going to take the lid off and wash them out? I don’t.

“They should have stayed with the blue box. All the neighbours feel the same. We have a Whatsapp group, and I’m the leader of the gang.”

Neighbour Jane Palombella was also concerned.

“It is such a narrow lane up here we just don’t see how the bin lorries are going to get up here at all,” she said.

“We’ve never had a bin collection. We’ve always had bin sacks. We are just a bit perplexed of how it is going to work.

“At the moment, a wagon comes with a cage on the back.”

She added: “A bin lorry did come up all the way once, and it was stuck here for five hours. You can’t turn around. It is so difficult to turn.”

What the council has said

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: “Teams of staff, including waste operatives and contact centre staff, have been working extremely hard to ensure that everything is ready for the roll out of the new waste and recycling service.

“With any change of this scale, there will inevitably be some teething problems.

“Any concerns raised by residents regarding the new service will be looked at by our staff, and we will do all we can to address these as soon as possible.

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“The new service will allow materials to be separated at source which will help improve the quality of recycling that we collect and will also mean more recyclable materials will remain within the UK and be recycled as new products.

“As well as helping to reach mandatory waste recycling targets set by the government, this new waste model will save the council up to half a million pounds per year.

“The new service booklet delivered to households contains important information on how to recycle efficiently at home, and even more information is available on the council’s website under the Recycling and Waste frequently asked questions.

“The council would like to thank residents for their co-operation during this transitionary period and appreciate their patience and understanding.”