Stop getting recycling wrong, begs council

Cardboard cut-outs of refuse collection team members Damian, Carl and John form part of the education campaign

Residents living in a part of Nottinghamshire are being urged to stop putting their waste in the wrong bins.

Broxtowe Borough Council has recruited three of its well-known refuse collectors to help spread the message.

Cardboard cut-outs of the trio will be on show at public events carrying the hashtag #SmallChangeBigDifference.

John Reed, who has worked as a refuse collector for the council for 25 years, said they were constantly "amazed" at what they found in recycling bins such as "the wrong plastics, polystyrene, lots of things - but the main things are nappies and garden waste".

The campaign carries the slogan #SmallChangeBigDifference

Recycling rates in Broxtowe are currently 36% but the borough council wants to reach the national target of 50% by 2027.

During Recycle Week 2024, a campaign is being run to educate people about what should and should not go in recycling bins.

Helen Skinner, the authority's portfolio holder for the environment and climate change, said she understood people found the rules "complicated" and acknowledged "people don't want to do it wrong".

"It's more important than ever that we do keep recycling and that we put the right things in," she said.

"It's better if we put the correct things in even if it's just a few different items [because] we'll achieve a lot more."

Bins which have been "contaminated" by items such as greasy pizza boxes, or unclean tins, cannot be sent for recycling. The council says recycling the "right way" stops tonnes of waste being buried in landfill or sent to the incinerator.

Mr Reed said his team found it "frustrating" to find the wrong items in the bins but said everyone needed "to try their best to make a difference".

The team says in Broxtowe, you can recycle plastic such as milk cartons, yoghurt pots and cleaning product bottles (without pump) along with paper, cardboard, newspapers, clean tins and aerosol cans.

However, you cannot recycle food waste, pizza boxes, bagged waste, nappies, Tetra Pak cartons and glass.