From October 2017 blue bins containing bagged items will not be collected. The message is simple, keep your items loose in the blue bin.
Contamination currently costs the authority £500,000 a year and in order to help reduce this cost; blue bins containing bagged items will not be collected.
Each week, the councils waste team carry out checks on the contents of the blue bins.
The results reveal that a large part of contamination is created when items are tied up in plastic bags. These items are completely unsuitable for the blue bin waste stream and commonly include products such as textiles, nappies, dog waste, and feminine hygiene products. The items are only uncovered once they arrive at the waste plant, resulting in huge costs and contamination of what could have been a recycled load.
The correct mixed dry recyclables for the blue bin include paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, tubs and trays, and tins. These items should be left loose.
Councillor Alan Clark, portfolio holder with responsibility for waste, said:
In order to reduce the costly contamination of the citys blue bins, we have had to take the decision to no longer accept blue bins that contain bagged items.
The majority of Hull residents recycle and recycle well, but the amount of incorrect materials going in the blue bins is a huge concern for us.
We recognise that not having your bin emptied is an inconvenience, but too many of the wrong materials in people’s blue bins increases the cost and can potentially render the entire load collected on that round unsuitable for recycling. This wastes the efforts of everyone else and also contributes to the excessive costs the council has to face. Being more selective on the bins we empty is a necessary part of the process improvement.
The message is simple, do not put bagged items in your blue bin keep it loose.