Soft Plastics Recycling

What should I do?

If you live in one of the areas taking part in the trial, we will deliver a roll of blue sacks and a leaflet to your home before your recycling collection date during the week commencing 21 April. If you live in the trial area and haven’t had your bag delivery by 25 April, please let us know by completing our online form that will be available from this date.

The leaflet explains how you should present your soft plastics at the kerbside:

1. place empty plastic bags and wrapping items in a blue sack
2. once filled, tie your sack securely with a double knot to prevent its contents from escaping
3. place your sack inside your blue plastic and metals recycling bag

Please place items loosely inside your sacks- don’t put one item inside another, as this makes it difficult to sort your items when they’re being processed for recycling.

Each roll has 56 sacks - enough for the initial 9 month trial. You shouldn’t need to put out more than one full sack each week throughout the trial, but if you do run out of sacks they will be available to collect from libraries from June.

What items should I put in my sacks?

Yes please

• Plastic bags, including carrier bags, pasta bags, pet food bags and parcel bags
• Crisp and nut packets
• Biscuit packets and chocolate / sweet wrappers
• Films, such as ready meal lids
• Plastic labels and wrapping from drinks bottles

No thank you

• Cling film
• Pouches or sachets such as microwavable rice or sharing bags of sweets
• Plastic netting
• Ploystyrene or foam
• Plastic straws and cutlery

Our FAQs contain a full breakdown on what can and cannot go in your soft plastics sack.

FAQ's

• What is the ‘plastic bags and wrapping collections trial’? 
  Residents in the Vale of Glamorgan already recycle 70% of their waste, but we want to help you recycle even more. 

   

  From Monday 21 April 2025, we're trialling a new collections service in some areas of the county to find out the best way to collect and recycle residents’ plastic bags and wrapping.    

   

  We’ve invited around 16,000 homes to take part in the trial. The residents we’ve invited live in a mix of housing types and areas so that we’re able to get a good and fair understanding of how different homes use the service.

   

  The items we collect from you as part of the trial will be recycled into new products, such as Bags for Life and bin bags. This will reduce our reliance on new or ‘virgin’ materials to create single-use plastic products like these and enable us to recycle more of our waste from home. 

• How long is the trial? 
  The initial trial will take place over nine months. When the trial nears it’s end we’ll tell you if we’ll continue collecting these items from you in the same way, or how you should dispose of these items in future. 

• Why are you trialling collections of plastic bags and wrapping? 
  Almost 10% (9.8%) of what’s in your black bags is made up of plastic bags and wrapping. These items are single-use, and most are made from new or ‘virgin’ plastic.  

   

  Trialling collections of these materials for recycling will reduce the amount of new material needed to make single-use, disposable plastic packaging.  

   

  The trial will allow us to understand how plastic bags and wrapping can be included in existing recycling collections, and how recycling this material will help us achieve our carbon reduction and recycling targets in Wales. 

• What should I do?  
  If you live in one of the areas taking part in the trial, between Monday 07 and Friday 25 April 2025, we’ll deliver to your home a roll of blue sacks and a leaflet. From Monday 21 April 2025 we’ll begin collecting your blue sacks containing plastic bags and wrapping. 

   

  The leaflet will ask you to carry out the following actions during the trial period::   

   

  1. Place your empty plastic bags and wrapping items in a blue sack 

  2. Once filled, tie your sack securely with a double knot to prevent its contents from escaping 

  3. Place your sack inside your blue bag for mixed metals, plastics and cartons on your usual collection day 

   

  Please place items loosely inside your sacks; don’t put one item inside another, as this makes it difficult to sort your items when they’re being processed for recycling. 

• What should I do if I think I am in the trial area but haven’t had any blue sacks delivered? 

  If you live in the trial area and haven’t had your bag delivery by 25 April, you will be able to let us know by completing an online form that will be available from this date. 

   

• What items should I put in my sacks?  
  Please put the following items in your sacks for plastic bags and wrapping: 

   

  • Plastic carrier bags  

  • Crisp and nut packets 

  • Biscuit packets 

  • Plastic chocolate bar and sweet wrappers 

  • Pasta and rice bags 

  • Bread bags 

  • Cereal box liners 

   

  You may also put the following in your sacks: 

   

  • Plastic parcel/delivery bags 

  • Plastic labels/wrappers from around drinks bottles 

  • Plastic cat and dog food bags 

  • Dry cleaning bags and bags covering new clothing 

  • Plastic packaging used by retailers to deliver household items, such as appliances  

  • Plastic garden compost and topsoil bags 

  • Plastic wrapping used for crisp, nut and sweet multipacks 

  • Ready-packed fruit, salad and vegetable bags 

  • Thin plastic bags for loose fruit, salad and vegetable items 

  • Film, such as ready meal lids and yoghurt pot lids 

  • Freezer bags 

  • Frozen food bags 

  • Magazine and newspaper wrapping 

  • Multipack wrapping and rings from bottle and can multipacks 

  • Wrapping from around toilet and kitchen roll packs 

   

  Please ensure your plastic bags and wrapping items are empty and give them a quick rinse to remove as much food residue as possible. 

• What items should I NOT put in my sacks?  

   

  Please DON’T put the following items in your sacks for plastic bags and wrapping: 

   

  • Cling film 

  • Polystyrene or foam 

  • Crisp tubes 

  • Pouches or sachets used for food (like microwavable rice), drinks, baby or pet food 

  • Sharing bags or pouches used for chocolates or sweets 

  • Pouches or sachets used for cleaning products, such as dishwasher or laundry capsules or tablets 

  • Plastic netting used to package fruit and vegetables 

  • Plastic punched pockets, such as 'Poly Pockets' 

  • Plastic straws or cutlery 

  • Disposable gloves or masks 

  • Balloons 

  • Blister packs, that is, the plastic packaging used for pills and tablets 

   

  Please continue to put these items in your black bags for non-recyclable waste. 

   

  We won’t collect your blue sacks if they contain incorrect items or contain food or liquid. 

• May I put other types of plastic in the sacks, such as plastic b
  No. Please continue to put ‘rigid’ plastics – like bottles, pots, tubs and trays – in your existing reusable blue bag for your mixed metals, plastics and cartons, after giving them a quick rinse. These include: 

   

  • Plastic cleaning product bottles, such as bleach bottles and trigger sprays 

  • Plastic drinks bottles, such as milk, soft drink and water bottles 

  • Plastic food containers, such as yoghurt pots, butter and ice cream tubs, fruit punnets and cake trays  

   

  Soft plastics – like plastic bags and wrapping – must be recycled separately to ‘rigid’ plastics – like plastic bottles, pots tubs and trays. 

   

• Why have you provided single-use sacks for this trial?  
  Plastic bags and wrapping can’t be recycled with other plastics we collect, like your bottles, pots, tubs and trays. The bag keeps them separate from other materials both during collection and when they are processed for recycling. 

   

  We can recycle the used sacks alongside your plastic bags and wrapping. 

• If it’s windy, how can I stop my sacks from blowing away on my collection day? 
  If possible, place your sack inside your blue bag for mixed metals, plastics and cartons on your usual collection day and ensure the flap is secured with the velcro at the front of the bag. 

   

  Please also remember to tie your sacks securely with a double knot to prevent their contents from escaping.  

• Why are the sacks you’ve provided for the trial so big? 
  We’ve chosen to use large sacks to ensure they meet the needs of all household sizes.  

   

  You don’t need to put them out for us to collect until they’re full. 

• What should I do if I need more sacks?  
  You shouldn’t need to put out more than one full sack each week throughout the trial, but if you need to collect more sacks, you will be able to collect them from your local library from June.

   

• What should I do if I have any spare sacks left over at the end of the trial? 
   If you have leftover empty sacks once the trial is over, you may put them in the final sack you put out for us to collect at the end of the trial. Or you may recycle them at your local Recycling Centre.

• What should I do with my plastic bags and wrapping once the trial ends? 

   

  When the trial ends, we’ll tell you if we’ll continue collecting these items from you in the same way, or how you should dispose of these items in future. 

   

  You may also continue recycling your plastic bags and wrapping by taking them to your local Recycling Centre.

   

  Alternatively, some of these items are accepted at ‘out-of-home’ recycling points at locations such as supermarkets. Visit walesrecycles.org.uk to find your nearest facility. The types of items accepted may vary between different locations, therefore please follow the guidance provided by the organisation managing the recycling point.  

   

  If you’re unable to take these items to one of these facilities and you need to dispose of these at home, please put them in your black bags for non-recyclable waste. 

• If the trial is successful, will it be rolled out permanently, across the county? 
  Whilst we hope the trial is successful and shows us how best to collect and recycle your plastic bags and wrapping, we won’t be able to confirm if – and how – we might introduce an ongoing, permanent collections service for these items until after the trial ends. 

   

  We’ll work with specialists to analyse the trial’s insights and consider the recommendations and next steps in making it as easy as possible for residents to recycle as much of their waste from home. 

• May I give my feedback about the trial? 

   

  Yes. We’d like you to tell us what you think about the nine-month trial by filling in a quick survey, once it’s been underway for three months.  

   

  When we deliver your roll of blue sacks and leaflet to your home before the trial starts, we’ll include a web link to the short survey. 

   

  If you submit your survey, we’ll enter you into a prize draw to win a £50 One4all Gift Card.  

   

  The survey will be open for four weeks, from Monday 30 June until Sunday 27 July 2025.  

   

  We’ll write to you again just before the survey opens. 

   

  Please note: the value of the prize draw gift card has been funded to Vale of Glamorgan Council by Welsh Government; it is not paid for using residents’ Council Tax payments. 

• Why is the trial only available to a small number of households? 

  We’ve invited around 16,000 homes to take part in the trial. The residents we’ve invited live in a mix of housing types and areas so that we’re able to get a good and fair understanding of how different homes use the service. 

   

  The Eastern Vale (Penarth, Sully, Dinas Powys, Llandough, and surrounding areas) has the best recycling rates in the County and is close to Atlantic Trading Estate Waste Management Centre which is better equipped to manage and sort the soft plastics. 

• What should I do if my blue sack is not collected? 
  We might not collect your sack for one or more of the following reasons: 

   

  • it contains incorrect items 

  • it isn’t securely tied  

  • the items inside contain food or liquid 

   

  If we’ve not collected your sack, check the items you put in it using the list in the leaflet we delivered with your sacks, then remove any incorrect items.  

   

  Make sure you tie your sack securely with a double knot. 

   

  If any items contain food or liquid, please give them a rinse then put your sack out on your next collection day.