Pembrokeshire residents could soon be facing three weekly black bin bag collections - and restrictions on the number of black bags that can put out.

The proposal - which is sure to spark debate - is part of a plan to transform the collection of waste and recycling in the county.

A Waste Service Review has been carried out by Pembrokeshire County Council's waste and recycling section and Eunomia Research & Consulting on behalf of Welsh Government.

It will be discussed next week (October 5) by the Council's Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The proposals in the Waste Service Review are to:

• introduce a weekly household kerbside sort system and increase the variety of materials which can be recycled.

• introduce three-weekly black bag collections with restrictions on the number of black bags collected with allowances for larger families (fortnightly collections for absorbent hygiene products i.e. nappies would be available).

• consider the introduction of a black bag checking scheme at Civic Amenity Sites so that any recyclable materials in black bags can be put into the correct recycling container.

The review aimed to find out how the Council can meet the increasing recycling targets set by Welsh Government whilst making the collection of waste and recycling more efficient and cost-effective - against the backdrop of funding cuts.

Councillor Cris Tomos, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Welsh Language, said the current service would not meet future targets.

"We know that over 70% of the waste produced by households in Pembrokeshire could be recycled," he said. "But at the moment, households only recycle approximately 40% of their waste collected at the kerbside.

"It's not a case of we should be doing better than this. We must do better than this, or we will be fined by the Welsh Government."

Cllr Tomos said the Government's statutory recycling target for 2019-20 is 64%, and by 2024-25 the target is 70%.

"Right now, Pembrokeshire as a whole is recycling almost 60% of its waste," he said.

"But that still leaves us short of the target. For every 1% of the target missed, we could be fined £140,000."

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will examine the proposals on October 5 and forward them to Cabinet to be discussed in November.

If Cabinet approves consulting members of the public on the proposals, the consultation will take place before the end of the year, and responses would be discussed at a further Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting in February 2018.

Cabinet would make a decision on the proposals and implementation plan in March 2018.

Members of the public can comment on the proposals in the Waste Service Review in a series of community meetings being held around Pembrokeshire called ‘Your Town, Your Say' in October.

Please view www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/haveyoursay for details of the meetings, or phone the Contact Centre on 01437 764551.

The review documents can be seen here.