Environment Minister John Griffiths has reiterated the Welsh Government's position on weekly waste collections, saying:

"I believe that it is up to councils - not central government - to decide what frequency of waste collections works best for their community. It is clear, however, that the pattern adopted by most Welsh councils, that is weekly separate food waste and recycling collections and fortnightly collections of residual (or black bag) waste, is the most sustainable, successful and cost-effective solution.

"Almost nine out of ten homes in Wales now benefit from a separate food waste collection - a significantly higher proportion than elsewhere in the UK. Weekly food waste and recycling collections mean that the majority of rubbish is collected every week so there is simply no need to waste money collecting half-empty residual bins.

"In addition, we know that weekly collections of food waste and recycling and fortnightly collections of residual waste help boost recycling rates and save councils' landfill costs. This is illustrated by the fact that Wales has the highest recycling rate in the UK."