Thurrock council has warned residents over the “serious problem” of contaminating kerbside recycling collections and claimed the practice could cost the Essex local authority around £200,000 in disposal costs this year alone if it is not corrected.
We have a serious problem with contamination in the blue bin
Cllr Yash Gupta, Thurrock council
The council claims that some residents have taken to placing black bags of residual waste and also food waste in with their dry recyclables, which means that loads have to be rejected or sorted through by the council's in-house collection service.
Currently the council operates a commingled collection of dry recyclables, such as paper and cardboard, metal and cans, glass bottles and jars and some mixed plastics, in a 240 litre blue wheeled bin, as well as a separate collection for food and garden waste.
A spokesman for the council told letsrecycle.com that the clampdown on contamination comes in the wake of Thurrock switching from kerbside boxes to kerbside bins for recyclables, which took place at the end of 2009.
The spokesman said: “If there was contamination in the boxes then the collector could see that and would not collect it or put a sticker on it but we can't see if they have put the wrong item in the new bins for recycling until it gets to the materials recycling facility.”
The council claim that, if the contamination does not stop, it could cost Thurrock around £200,000 to pay its materials recycling facility (MRF) contractor – Nordic Recycling – to cover the cost of disposing contaminated material for 2010 alone.
And, it has claimed that the money to cover these costs would have to be drawn from “other important services” such as street cleaning and parks maintenance.
Commenting on the issue, councillor Yash Gupta, Thurrock cabinet member for environment, said: “We have a serious problem with contamination in the blue bin. Unfortunately, some residents are using the bins for black bags and food waste and this can cause problems for those dealing with it and it costs the council, and therefore the taxpayer money.”
“If things continue as they are, we and the residents of Thurrock will be facing a bill in the region of £200,000 for this year alone – well over £1 for every man, woman and child living in the borough,” he added.
Under a contract let by the council last month, material collected at the kerbside by the in-house service is taken to Nordic Recycling's MRF at Tilbury Docks in Essex to be sorted (see letsrecycle.com).
Cllr Gupta added: “It is not pleasant for the people that have to hand sort the material when it is tipped onto the conveyor belt at the recycling plant.”
Check
Residents are being asked to check on council information and Thurrock's website to ensure they know what material can be placed in the respective bins, and to also place all material in the blue bins loose and not in containers.
And, Thurrock has also stressed that residents that continue to contaminate their collections will not have their bins collected until the problem has been rectified.
The issue of recycling collections in Thurrock has been a contentious topic of late, with former contractor Veolia Environmental Services launching – and subsequently dropping – two legal actions in March against the council over its decision to take its recycling collections in-house (see letsrecycle.com story).
Subscribe for free