Reminder that bagged waste must not go in blue bins
Through its joint waste service with Tamworth Borough Council, Lichfield District Council is reminding all its residents not to bag up their recycling, as blue bins cannot be emptied if they are found to have bagged waste in them.
To promote the change, recycling crews have put service change stickers on all blue bins across Lichfield District and Tamworth Borough.
The stickers explain that bins will not be emptied if they contain bagged items and also outline how and what to recycle, although the list is not exhaustive and the full instructions can be found on the council’s website.
Councillor Richard Cox, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks & Waste, said:
“Most of our residents are fantastic at following our recycling guidelines and the last thing we want to do is to leave anyone’s bin unemptied. However, just one bad bin can contaminate an entire eight-tonne load.
“We’re continuing to get the message out to all homes that they need to follow the guidance. This includes putting recycling into blue bins loose and only recycling the right items and making sure they are clean.
“We’ve had to start excluding bagged waste after truckloads of our recycling were repeatedly rejected by our recycling plant, because they were contaminated by non-recyclable waste that our crews couldn’t identify at the kerbside because it was in bags.
“If we don’t address this it will cost us an extra £250,000 a year, which is not a good use of tax payers’ money. We hope everyone will help the environment by recycling as much as they can in the right way.”
The only times bags can be used for recycling is if your blue bin is full, then additional recycling can be placed in a clear plastic bag next to your blue bin on collection day. Likewise, if you have a lot of shredded paper to recycle, it is best to put this in a clear plastic bag and leave it next to your blue bin when it is emptied. You can also recycle empty, clean plastic bags in your blue bin.
To check what can and can’t go in your blue bin, go to www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/bluebins.