Swale Borough Council will be placing stickers on household waste and recycling bins over the coming weeks to help residents cut down on recycling contamination.
The stickers will be going on all bins across the borough to ask residents to think about what they are putting in each bin to reduce recycling contamination.
The council say that they see a lot of food waste, used nappies, textiles, garden waste and black bin bags being incorrectly placed in to the blue bin with recycling.
If the levels of these contaminants are too high, the entire load may be rejected and everyone’s recycling on that collection round is lost.
With more people working from home there has understandably been an increase in weights for kerbside collections. This means it is even more important than ever that the right materials are going in the correct bins.
Councillor Julian Saunders, Cabinet Member For Environment at the council, told SFM News: “We want every resident to think carefully about what they are putting in each of their bins. We need residents to be part of the solution and help us ensure we can recycle what’s in our recycling bins, instead of having bin loads rejected from the recycling facilities for too many contaminants. The stickers will show what can and can’t go in our recycling and household waste bins, and if everybody makes a small improvement in how they allocate their waste, we can make a positive impact across the borough.
Cllr Saunders went on to add: “Every resident can make a difference when it comes to how they dispose of their waste. Whether it’s washing food waste from recyclables before placing them in the blue bin, opting to start home composting or asking for a food caddy for food waste, even small changes will help us recycle and tackle climate change. It will also help create a circular economy where more products are re-used and recycled rather than new raw materials being used to create more waste.”
If you are unsure of what bin something should go in, Swale Borough Council's website now includes a handy Waste Wizard search tool at:– https://swale.gov.uk/waste-wizard