Councils need to achieve 70 per cent recycling by 2024-25, which Flintshire was close to hitting in 2019 but there has been a decline since, with the authority achieving just 60 per cent in 2021.

A six-figure fine believed to be in excess of £600,000 is the penalty for missing the target and Flintshire Council chiefs have previously been hauled in front of the Welsh Government’s Minister for Climate Change Julie James to explain the shortfall.