Recycling row as 'contaminated' bins left unemptied

Residents awoke to find green labels - dubbed "tags of shame" - stuck to their unemptied bins

A council's crackdown on recycling "contamination" angered residents when more than 9,000 bins went uncollected.

North Kesteven District Council introduced the strict new policy to encourage people to "put the right thing in the right bin".

But some householders who found their bins unemptied for breaching the rules said it made them want to abandon recycling altogether.

The council said incorrect disposal of items was hampering its green efforts.

'Tag of shame'

Between Monday and Thursday a total of 9,114 green bins meant for plastic and cans were left unemptied - about 20% of the total.

Receptacles found to contain inappropriate materials were slapped with a bright green tag identifying the offending item.

A new purple bin, recently introduced for clean cardboard and paper, was blamed by some for making the system more confusing.

One disgruntled resident, posting in a local Facebook group, wrote: "I am so meticulous in my recycling, but bin not emptied today.

"I will no longer recycle, I'm going to order a big black bin."

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Another quipped: "Just heard there will be public floggings held... for all of the naughty folk that didn't obey the strict green bin protocols.

"Please bring your tag of shame so it can warrant how many floggings you will receive."

Council leader Richard Wright said some people had unwittingly broken rules but others had refused to comply.

"Contamination is an issue which is increasingly impacting on how much can be recycled and undermining all the efforts our households are making on their recycling at home," Mr Wright said.

"The only way to stop this is by everyone taking responsibility for our waste, by making sure only the right thing goes into the right bin," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Some people have made a mistake, but frankly some have said they are not going along with it," he added.

"Unfortunately, we can't continue with that."