Cardiff Council is being criticised for an idea to replace black refuse bags for clear ones in an attempt to expose 'missed opportunities' for recycling.
The council says it must look into all opportunities to maximise the number of people who recycle. But the idea hasn't gone down well with everyone. Critics say it's an invasion of privacy. Megan Boot reports.
Cardiff Council is considering swapping black refuse bags for clear ones, in order to spot missed opportunities for recycling.
It's just one idea being considered as part of a green paper on recycling initiatives that'll be published in the summer.
The council says it must look at all opportunities to maximise recycling.
"It's a very very good way of finding out a lot of information about somebody" says Emma Carr, from Big Brother Watch.
"I think allowing people to see very very clearly who you are as a person when you may feel uncomfortable with that is certainly a step too far".
People in Wales recycled 54% of their waste between July and September 2012.
Conwy topped the table, recycling 60% of its waste during the second quarter of 2012/13, followed by Anglesey, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Caerphilly and Monmouthshire, who all recycled 59% of their rubbish.
48 percent of household waste was recycled or composted in Wales in the 12 months to the end of March 2012, a rise of 4 percent on the previous year, according to a new report published by the Welsh Government. The administration has set a target of 52 percent by 2012-13.
– John Griffiths AM, Environment MinisterI am delighted that the people of Wales are managing their waste in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. The key thing now is that we continue to build on our recycling success so that we can meet our challenging targets of 70% recycling by 2025 and zero waste by 2050. I am very hopeful that this summer will see us breaking the 50% barrier.
Up to 100 jobs are to be created in Caerphilly with the opening of a new recycling service centre.
Caerphilly is already the head office for DS Smith Recycling's operations, employing 88 staff out of almost 400 across Wales.
The investment, which has received £436,000 from the Welsh Government, will also safeguard 22 jobs.
– Business Minister Edwina HartThe new centre will bring direct and indirect benefits to the local economy while creating a significant number of jobs and career opportunities.
The centre will be based at Caerphilly Business Park, which the company says will enable it to centralise its IT, HR and finance operations.
DS Smith Plc employs 12,000 people worldwide and has a turnover of £2.5 billion.