Bristol Waste considering fines over poorly sorted rubbish

Households in Bristol could be fined for not sorting their bins correctly, a waste company has warned.

The proposed scheme could be introduced if efforts to educate people about recycling their waste correctly are unsuccessful, Bristol Waste said.

Managing director Tony Lawless said: "We need some way to enforce residents who continually flout the rules."

He was speaking at a Bristol City Council meeting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Mr Lawless said: "There will be two types of people - ones that will never bother, and maybe those are the ones we look to enforce, and those that are not sure, so those are the ones we need to educate a little bit more.

"It's a bit of a way to go before we get to the point where people cannot be educated any more and we need to enforce and fine.

"It's a road we may have to go down to but we will reluctantly go down it."

Mr Lawless suggested enforcement officers could visit residents to encourage them to recycle correctly.

He said the company would remain in discussions with the council about any potential enforcement measures.