Doncaster school children given lessons about bin recycling

Non-recyclable material in bins costs the council more than £300,000 a year to sort

More than 1,000 children have been given lessons about what can go into their recycling bins in a bid to save the local council money.

Non-recyclable waste in blue bins currently costs Doncaster Council more than £300,000 a year to sort, it said.

Special lessons educating children in Rossington have been taking place.

They came as a new council project, run in partnership with waste partner Suez, meant bins would be left unemptied if they contained non-recyclable material.

Primary schools including St Joseph's, Grange Lane, St Michael's, Pheasant Bank and Torndale Infants, were all visited as part of the scheme.

A council spokesperson said it was hoped the children could then teach their parents about recycling rules.

"The aim is that they pick up good recycling habits at an early age, which is something they can take home with them, discuss with their parents and all make a difference to increase recycling, whilst reducing contamination," councillor Mark Houlbrook said.

People living in Rossington have been warned that recycling teams will be "closely" checking bin interiors as part of the pilot scheme.

Households were sent a letter outlining that from the start of February, any blue bins containing items that cannot be recycled will be reminded of the rules, and any further issues would see their bins left unemptied.

Only plastic bottles, clean paper and card, tins, cans and tin foil should go in the blue bin, the council added.