Residents' recycling mistakes cost council £57,000

Medway Council says nearly 3,000 tons of recycling was incorrectly sorted in a year by householders

Nearly 3,000 tonnes of recyclable waste could not be processed in a Kent district because residents had put items into the wrong bags, a report said.

Rogue items contaminated the other waste, meaning it all had to be sorted differently or incinerated to generate energy, the Medway Council document revealed.

The additional cost to the council was £57,000 between October 2022 and September 2023, the regeneration, culture, and environment (RCE) overview and scrutiny committee was told.

Items such as sanitary products, nappies, food, small electrical goods, batteries and textiles were often put into the wrong bags.

Another problem encountered by contractor Medway Norse was with glass cooking dishes or metal saucepans.

Although they can be recycled, they are not included in the specific residential collections.

Medway Council is appealing to residents to sort their recycling before leaving it for collection

Ian Gilmore, head of regulatory and environmental services for Medway Council, said: “We can engage and we can talk and we can persuade and we can cajole, but we need residents to go on that journey with us.”

Andrew Mann, managing director of Medway Norse, said the contractor is exploring further avenues, including information printed on the recycling bags.