'Unbelievable mess' amid rise in demand at refuse tip

RUBBISH is piling up at a tip amid a struggle to cope with demand.

- TWM OWEN & CONOR GOGARTY

Photographs show mounds of items waiting to be sorted at Torfaen council's household recycling centre in New Inn.

The site is operated by FCC Environment on behalf of the council, which has said household recycling centres across the UK are affected by an increase in materials being brought to them and issues with “recycling end markets”.

A regular visitor to the site, who is from Cwmbran and who asked not to be named, said he was struck by the state of the site compared to his last visit a month earlier.

“There was all sorts of debris in front of the bays where cars normally park,” he said. “It was unbelievable and last month the area was pristine.”

The bay for wood has no room for any more items to be deposited. But the visitor said: “There are no signs to say ‘No more wood’ or ‘We're full.”