People in Lichfield and Burntwood are being reminded that bagged waste will no longer be accepted in blue bins.
Lichfield District Council confirmed the change recently, but had offered some grace due to bins already having waste in them.
But it says stickers have now been put on blue bins and the new rules will come into force from now on.
Cllr Richard Cox, Lichfield District Council’s cabinet member responsible for waste, said:
“Most of our residents are fantastic at following our recycling guidelines and the last thing we want to do is to leave anyone’s bin unemptied. However, just one bad bin can contaminate an entire eight-tonne load.
“We’re continuing to get the message out to all homes that they need to follow the guidance. This includes putting recycling into blue bins loose and only recycling the right items and making sure they are clean.
“We’ve had to start excluding bagged waste after truckloads of our recycling were repeatedly rejected by our recycling plant, because they were contaminated by non-recyclable waste that our crews couldn’t identify at the kerbside because it was in bags.
“If we don’t address this it will cost us an extra £250,000 a year, which is not a good use of tax payers’ money.
“We hope everyone will help the environment by recycling as much as they can in the right way.”
Cllr Richard Cox
The council confirmed that when blue bins are full additional recycling can be put in a clear plastic bag next to the bin on collection day.
Full details of what waste can be put in the recycling bins is available at www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/bluebins.
