With the dramatic message ‘Please take care not to stab your recycling crew’, the warning comes as part of a month-long campaign launched by the Somerset Waste Partnership in a bid to improve waste safety.
Householders are informed that knives are among the worst offending items placed in recycling boxes.
According to the Partnership, collection crews have narrowly escaped injuries from knives as they sort recycling boxes – even while they were wearing safety gloves.
The campaign, which calls on householders not to dispose of knives and scissors, also extends to sharp-edged metal can tops and broken glass bottles.
Both glass bottles and metal cans are collected separately at the kerbside across Somerset, which are manually handled by recycling collectors on a weekly basis.
To avoid injury, the Partnership recommends trapping metal tops inside the cans, while broken glass bottles or jars should be well wrapped in newspaper, put in a carrier bag, and disposed of in the refuse bin.
Hazardous
Other hazardous materials the Partnership warns against include syringes, and ensuring household chemicals such as bleach and oven cleaner are emptied from containers.
A Somerset Waste Partnership spokesman said: “Keeping the public and waste staff safe is a priority for SWP and its collection and recycling site contractors, Kier and Viridor, with regular training and constant monitoring.
“Residents can reduce risks and help others by staying safe around rubbish and recycling vehicles, at recycling sites, and when putting out materials for collection.”
Somerset Waste Partnership jointly manages and plans waste collection, recycling and disposal services for all 240,000 Somerset homes in Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset and West Somerset district councils, Taunton Deane borough council and Somerset county council. Collections in the county are shared between Kier and Viridor.
Trials
The Partnership is considering changes to its recycling and waste collections which have been piloted in trial areas across the county. Some of the options touted include a three-box stack system to replace current recycling boxes and adding new recycling streams to the kerbside (see letsrecycle.com story).
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