Six councils has been slammed for using "big brother" tactics to check people's rubbish and even knock on their doors if they are not recycling enough.
Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan have taken part in a pilot looking at how much people present for recycling by analysing their waste.
Residents then received green letters if they are recycling well, amber letters if they could recycle a bit more or red warning letters if they are not doing enough.
As well as sending out thousands of letters, council enforcement officers have also used door knocked homes where people have not disposed of their waste properly.
Council officials insist the scheme helps reduce the amount of material to sent to landfill as well as meet Welsh Government recycling targets.
But some opposition parties have questioned the move and whether it is good use of council resources.
Councillor Adrian Robson, leader of the Conservatives on Cardiff council, likened the measure to "big brother" tactics and said he was concerned that vulnerable residents may have been targeted.
He said: "My concern with this, particularly with the face to face door knocking, is does it take into account people who may have a mental illness or who are unable to to do recycling?
"I've got no problem with the council targeting people who repeatedly and deliberately refuse to recycle and are in a position to be able to do so. But this appears to be undertaking a pilot targeting people who have got it wrong in one instance."
The Welsh Government has set a target for the six authorities to reach a recycling rate of 70% by 2024/25.
Across the six councils taking part in the pilot, called Everyone's Doing It, 950 homes received red letters, while 2008 letters were green and 2888 were amber.
| Local Authority | total number of properties | GREEN | AMBER | RED | not presented / recorded |
| Vale | 962 | 223 | 405 | 82 | 252 |
| RCT | 1069 | 508 | 391 | 170 | |
| Powys | 1397 | 288 | 791 | 318 | |
| Blaenau Gwent | 975 | 231 | 336 | 250 | 159 |
| Caerphilly | 944 | 157 | 655 | 15 | 87 |
| Cardiff | 1587 | 601 | 310 | 115 | 561 |
| REGIONAL TOTAL | 6934 | 2008 | 2888 | 950 | 1059 |
Cardiff council's recycling chief councillor Michael Michael defended the scheme/
He told our Local Democracy Reporting Service: "All we're doing is knocking on doors and speaking to the public to see if we can improve recycling to the European and world standards we're aiming for.
"We're tying to help people, not having a go at them. We give them the information to help them to recycle better.
"We're not targeting them or telling them off. What we're doing is trying to help them."
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Blaenau Gwent Council, which sent out 250 red letters, also said the pilot had been useful.
A spokeswoman added: "We do carry out side waste enforcement in all areas including no cold calling zones.
"All properties that received an amber and red letters were visited by a waste warden, however residents may not have been at home at the time.
"When visiting properties, Wardens took the opportunity to explain to residents why and how they received amber/red letters, in an effort to increase recycling rates."
A spokesman for Everyone's Doing It said: "As part of the campaign a small number of households were chosen to capture their recycling habits, so that each individual local authority could offer help and advice to improve where needed."
The Everyone’s Doing It pilot is set to finish on March 31. Any further roll out will be decided by the respective council.
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