Melton Borough Council will refuse to empty the worst offending contaminated recycling, it has said, as it launches a campaign in partnership with Leicestershire County Council to highlight the importance of people getting their recycling right.
In Melton nearly half of our household waste is recycled, however, the council says a recent trend has seen contamination levels rising as residents increasingly appear to be placing what the council calls “unsuitable items” into their recycling bin.
The new campaign, ‘Don’t let your Recycling go to Waste’, aims to encourage residents to think carefully about what should and what should not go into their recycling bin.
Over the next few months the council will be reminding residents which items in particular should not be placed in their recycling bin.
Last year around 5,500 tonnes of material placed in recycling bins throughout Leicestershire was rejected as recycling contamination.
I’m sure we all want to do our bit to protect the planet and making sure that our recycling bin is only used for the correct materials is one way of helping Melton residents achieve a cleaner, greener environment
The main types of recycling contamination include disposable nappies, black plastics, leftover food and polystyrene packaging, as well as electrical items or textiles mixed in with other materials, these unwanted items spoil good quality material.
Rejected loads of recycling are disposed of at additional costs to the county’s rate payers and with contamination levels and disposal costs on the rise, the County Council, along with the districts and boroughs, say they are “taking action”.
From the 1st October 2019 Melton bin collection crews will be visually checking residents’ recycling wheeled bins for contamination and the worst offending bins will not be emptied.
Collection operatives will leave an information sticker informing residents of the reason for the non-emptying of their recycling bin and will only return to empty the bin on the next scheduled collection day for recycling, provided the contamination has been removed.
Cllr Illingworth, the Portfolio holder for Environment and Regulatory Services said: “It’s important residents understand how to recycle properly and make best use of the facilities available to them. This campaign is a positive step to getting recycling right across the district.
“I’m sure we all want to do our bit to protect the planet and making sure that our recycling bin is only used for the correct materials is one way of helping Melton residents achieve a cleaner, greener environment.”