Council refuses to take rubbish in the wrong bins

Mike Harrison, the council’s head of cleaner and greener, said they cannot give in to people who put the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin.

The news comes as residents in a block of Worcester flats are seeing piles of rubbish build up because their green bins have not been emptied for seven weeks.

“We need to make a stand. If we give in they will keep doing it,” Mr Harrison said.

“It is a Catch-22 situation. If we don’t empty contaminated bins, rubbish piles up and if we do we contaminate other people’s recycling.”

The green bins in Oakridge Close, Warndon, Worcester, are for recycling only.

But they have been contaminated with food waste, clothing and corrugated cardboard.

If the contaminated bins are collected and the waste sent to the recycling depot, it will contaminate 11 tonnes of rubbish.

What could have been recycled will have to go to landfill.

Residents have been visited by council officers who have explained recycling rules and are planning a re-visit.

They also receive a quarterly newsletter from Worcester Community Housing which highlights green issues, and the housing association provides lists of what residents can and cannot recycle.

One tenant, 39-year-old Deanna Dugmore, said: “There are quite a few children here and the trouble is when the bins overflow the children tend to get in it and spread it around.

“None of us can believe how bad it has got.”

It is not the first time bins have been contaminated and rubbish left to pile up.

As previously reported in your Worcester News, residents in Brookthorpe Close, Warndon, Worcester, waited weeks for their bins to be emptied.

Again the recycling bins were contaminated and there was a six-week stand-off between residents and bin men.

Eventually Worcester Community Housing paid for the bins to be emptied.

l An event is being held at Ronkswood Community Centre in Newtown Road, Worcester, for residents to learn more about recycling. It is on Friday, August 29, between 11am and 3pm.