Rotherham councillors defend recycling fines as consultation launches
Residents could face fines for not correctly sorting their recycling
A public consultation will be held to gather the public’s views on plans to fine residents who do not correctly sort their recycling, which costs the council more than £1m per year.
The policy, drawn up by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC), aims to reduce contamination, improve recycling rates, and cut the costs associated with improper waste disposal.
Contamination rates in recycling bins have become a significant issue in Rotherham, with 18 per cent of glass, cans, and plastics, and 15 per cent of paper and card being mixed with non-recyclable materials.
It costs RMBC an estimated £300,373 in additional disposal fees and a loss of £886,299 in recycling income per year.
During yesterday’s (December 16) cabinet meeting, leader of the council Chris Read outlined a warning system for residents who repeatedly contaminate their recycling bins.
“It’s going to be pretty difficult to get fined,” said Cllr Read.
“We ask residents to separate their waste out so that it can be appropriately disposed of or recycled accordingly.
“Where there is significant contamination, where large amounts of the wrong sort of waste are put into the wrong bins, that means that waste can’t be disposed of in the way that it’s intended, and that comes with a cost to the council and accordingly, that’s a cost to the taxpayer.
“In effect, we’re all paying one per cent of our council tax every year…..for people to put their waste in the wrong bin. We’re already picking up that cost. As a resident i’d rather not pay that £15 if I had a choice. As leader of the council, I’d quite like that money to be available to spend on public services that people would benefit from.
“The object of the exercise is absolutely not to fine people. The object of the exercise is to intervene to make sure people get it right first time.
“If somebody really is resistant to following the rules and therefore is forcing the cost of the practice on to everybody else, at that point we’ll have the option to fine people.”
Under the new policy, the council will introduce a “traffic light” system for tagging contaminated bins.
Residents whose recycling bins are found to be contaminated will receive a warning with a yellow tag on the first offence. If contamination continues, a second offence will result in an orange tag and a letter warning of a potential fixed penalty notice. A third instance will trigger a red tag, accompanied by a fixed penalty notice, which could carry a fine.
Fixed penalty notices issued can vary depending on offence, but will usually cost between £80 and £400. If the fine is not paid, the receiver could end up in court and be faced with a conviction and fine that could cost up to £2,500.
Residents who dispute a contamination tag on their bins and claim their collection was missed will face further checks. The council’s waste management software will be used to verify whether the bin was missed or if it was tagged for contamination.
Under the new policy, the council’s enforcement team will also investigate where complaints are made about bins being left on the kerbside past 7pm on collection day – and will consider enforcement action if the bin is not removed.