This comes after the council was named the worst performing authority in England in 2019/20, with a household waste recycling rate of 18.8%.
The new policy forms part of a campaign, Cleaner Greener Barrow, which urges residents to do more to protect the environment. The campaign has been launched on the council’s social media channels.
Councillor Ann Thomson, the leader of Barrow borough council and lead member for greener and cleaner neighbourhoods, said: “Recycling as much as we can is the right thing to do for our borough, but also for the environment as a whole.
“We need to make sure the recycling we collect from homes is sorted well though because this makes the items easier to transform into something else.
“Unfortunately, when non-recyclable or unsuitable items are placed in the recycling, it means that particular box or bin is considered contaminated.
“We all need to do our bit when it comes to deciding which items to place in the recycling. Hopefully, Cleaner Greener Barrow should help make things clearer than ever before.”
A guide is to be distributed to each household in the borough for residents who need to check whether an item can be placed in their recycling or into the residual waste bin.
Barrow
Barrow-In-Furness borough council is one of six district councils in Cumbria. It consists of the large coastal town of Barrow-In-Furness, the small market town of Dalton-in-Furness, and the parishes of Askam & Ireleth and Lindal & Marton.
“We all need to do our bit when it comes to deciding which items to place in the recycling”
In the 2019/20 recycling figures released earlier this month, Barrow-in-Furness recorded the lowest recycling rate in England in 2019/20 at 18.8%. This was well below the national average of 45.5%.
An average of 352.6kg of household waste was collected per person. The council represents an estimated population of just more than 67,000.
Waste and recycling collections in Barrow are carried out by FCC Environment as part of a seven-year contract which began in April 2017 (see letsrecycle.com story). The council became embroiled in a dispute about the “continuing amount” of contaminated recycling material rejected at FCC’s Hartlepool materials recovery facility (MRF) with its contractor in July 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Fining residents could be seen as controversial as Barrow-in-Furness has relatively high levels of poverty. Nearly a quarter (23%) of Barrow households lived in fuel poverty in 2018, according to the Cumbria Intelligence Observatory, while 38% of children lived in low income families.
Contamination
Under the new policy, recycling operatives will inform residents if their recycling is contaminated with non-recyclable items using a hanger that notifies which item was not allowed.
A further incident of contamination will be followed up with a home visit to offer advice and information about recycling in the borough.
On the third occasion, a formal notice will be issued to the householder.
Finally, householders who continue to place the wrong items in their recycling could be subject to a fixed penalty notice.
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