As the coronavirus outbreak continues across the UK, Cardiff council has begun burning the city's recyclable waste.
The system has been brought in as the city council says it is the only way of maintaining a kerbside collection system during the coronavirus pandemic.
It is urging people to continue to separate recycling and put it out in their wheelie bins or green bags as the alternative could become unmanageable for their depleted refuse teams - and they could switch back at any moment.
A spokesman said "As soon as the crisis is over - normal recycling operations will resume. If you are recycling as normal we will be able to switch back with minimum fuss.
"Please don’t break the recycling habit. Once broken it’s harder to resume and we could switch back to normal service sooner than you might expect."
Once per week, the council now collects all types of waste, with the exception of garden refuse, and empties it into the same general waste collection truck.
It's then taken to Trident Park Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Cardiff where it's burned, rather than sorted and recycled.
Previously, Cardiff's recyclable waste - including plastic, cardboard, paper, glass and metal - was taken to the Materials Reclamation Facility at Lamby Way.
The only waste the council is currently recycling is the two ash residues left over from the incinerator and food waste on the red-striped bag scheme.
The council says using ERF is a temporary measure "to remove waste from the city’s streets as quickly and as safely as possible" during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Councillor Michael Michael, cabinet member for clean streets, environment and recycling at Cardiff council, said: “It is important to emphasise that this is only a temporary measure implemented to ensure we can maintain a kerbside collection service across the city while supporting the health and welfare of the workforce and residents during the lockdown.
"We have to do this with reduced resources due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the extra help we are giving to the NHS."
Garden waste is temporarily excluded from collection, as it causes "significant operational difficulties" for the plant's operator, Viridor.
Instead, the council is asking residents to store garden waste in their garden until the pandemic is over.
Residents are also asked to put food and hygiene waste into black wheelie bins or, if you live in a red-striped bag area, to continue to use your brown food caddy for food waste.
For most other waste, the council is also asking households to continue following standard procedures.
They said this will prevent black wheelie bins from overflowing and keep homeowners in the habit of recycling.
The move comes just three months after the council introduced a new scheme, which saw those who repeatedly broke recycling rules threatened with a £100 fine or being sent to magistrates' court for prosecution.
