New bin stickers are being introduced to let householders in Lichfield and Burntwood know that black bin bags should not be put in their recycling.
The warnings come after Lichfield District Council confirmed it would crackdown on contaminated blue bins.
The local authority has revealed that five truck-loads of recycling were recently turned away from a sorting plant due to recycling having black bin liners in.
Cllr David Leytham, Cabinet member for operational services, leisure and waste, said rejected loads needed to be sent to landfill, which is a more costly alternative.I
“To reduce the chance of recycling being rejected by our sorting plant, we need to make sure our residents know what can and can’t go in blue bins,” he said. “This is why we’re putting stickers on blue bin lids, so everyone is aware that we won’t empty the bin if it contains recycling in black bin bags.
“Our preference is for recycling to be loose in your blue bin. However, if you want to bag it, please use a clear bag or simply empty the bag of recycling into your blue bin and then reuse the plastic bag.”
