Herefordshire Council say that while they’ve seen great improvements, 2,900 tonnes of material was still rejected by their recycling partner last year.
Envirosort say that’s enough to fill over 250 rubbish lorries.
Herefordshire Council is hoping that its ‘getting it right campaign’ will help everyone put all the right things into their green bins and clear recycling sacks. Better recycling means a better environment for everyone.
What can I recycle? – What can I recycle? | EnviroSort | Severn Waste Services
More Details – What to recycle – Herefordshire Council
Contamination is any material you put out for your recycling collection that cannot be recycled through the collection service in Herefordshire.
If your green bin or clear sacks are contaminated with the wrong materials the collection crew will not collect it and they will leave a yellow ‘Oops’ tag on it to make you aware of what the contamination is.
You will need to take the items that cannot be recycled out of your green bin or clear sacks and, depending on what the items are, put them in your general waste or take them to your local household recycling centre.
Contamination can result in an entire lorry full of good recycling being rejected when it is sent to EnviroSort. This means the load will not be able to be recycled. It can also cause delays to collection rounds and in emptying residents’ bins.
When you have removed the contaminating items your green bin can be emptied, or clear sacks collected, on your next scheduled collection. Crews are not able to make a special trip back to collect any bins or sacks that were marked contaminated.
If you continue to put the wrong items out for collection
- On the first occasion, your recycling will be labelled as contaminated and will not be collected. The tag will say what you need to remove before it is collected
- If your recycling is contaminated on multiple occasions, you will be contacted by waste management and offered further advice and help to identify which items can and cannot be collected for recycling
- If, after this, you continue to contaminate your recycling, Herefordshire Council may remove the recycling bin from your property
If Herefordshire Council remove your recycling bin you will probably find that you do not have enough space in your black bin for all your rubbish. You will have to find another way to recycle such as taking your recycling to a household recycling centre. Any extra rubbish can also be taken to a household recycling centre.
