Contaminated recycling still costing Kent council thousands
The cost of incorrectly bagged items still in tens of thousands
A Kent council is still paying tens of thousands of pounds due to residents putting items in the wrong bins - despite campaigns to reduce contamination.
Medway Council has paid £25,000 in additional disposal costs in the five months since it revealed it was shelling out huge sums due to contaminated recycling.
In November last year the authority revealed it has had to pay £57,000 since October 2022 to deal with waste which had been put in the wrong bag.
But five months later the council has already paid £25,000 to deal with the same problem.
From October 2022 to November 2023, 3,000 tonnes of rubbish had to be processed separately than typical recycling because it had been contaminated.
Medway Council says it has made efforts to inform residents about which items go in black bin bags and which in the clear recycling bags – including directly on the bags themselves – however they appear to have been unsuccessful so far.
A Medway Council spokesman said: “Information on how different types of waste should be recycled is widely available.
“We would encourage residents to check out the information and follow the guidelines to help us recycle their rubbish.“