More than 15,000 tonnes of household rubbish put in wrong bins last year

Rejected waste material can be turned away from recycling due to contamination by water, dirt, or chemical treatments such as preservatives or paint.

And much of the problem is caused by carelessness or laziness from householders when it comes to filling their bins.

Figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs reveal the problem faced by councils in our region.

In Sandwell, there was a record amount of household waste rejected from being recycled after being placed in the wrong bin in the year to April 2022 – an estimated 8,710 tonnes. It was up from 5,569 tonnes the year before – a 56 per cent increase – and up from 7,544 tonnes in 2014-15 when records began.

The council said it would be distributing a leaflet to households next month to remind them what can be put in the different bins. It has also started a pilot project to increase recycling in high-rise flats and relaunched its weekly food waste collection service, which was suspended during the pandemic.

A Sandwell Council spokesperson said: “If the wrong types of items are placed into blue-lid bins it causes problems when the materials are sent to the plant for recycling. Having incorrect items such as clothing, toys, nappies, food and bags of household waste mixed in with good recycling can mean it is turned away.Residents can also find out what can and can’t be recycled as part of their weekly blue-lid recycling and food waste collections at sandwell.gov.uk/whatgoesinbins. Our Right Stuff, Right Bin message is a simple but important one that encourages residents to check that they are recycling all that they can whilst not mistakenly placing unsuitable items into the wrong bins.”

There was also a rise in rejected waste in Wolverhampton and Dudley, although there was a slight fall in Walsall.

Figures show 2,690 tonnes of household waste were rejected in Wolverhampton in the 12 months to April 2022; 489 tonnes in Dudley and 3,119 tonnes in Walsall. The year before it was 2,648 tonnes in Wolverhampton; 412 tonnes in Dudley and 3,252 tonnes in Walsall.

Across England, 6.4 per cent of rubbish sent to be recycled in 2021-22 was rejected.

Last year’s rejects in Sandwell accounted for 20 per cent of the household waste sent for recycling, while it was 6.6 per cent in Wolverhampton, 7.4 per cent in Walsall and one per cent in Dudley.

Walsall Council said it also aimed to reduce waste and increase recycling, and was taking action.

A spokesperson for Walsall Council added: “We are updating our waste strategy, which will include a campaign to get residents putting the right things in the right bins. This will be informed by a waste composition analysis and resident survey. As well as this, Walsall Council is a partner in a joint venture to build the most advanced recycling facility in the country.”

Wolverhampton Council said it was working with residents through education and awareness programmes to help make recycling simple and avoid contamination.

A council spokesman said: “Our education programme for schools, Recycle Rovers, helps children and families to understand which items should be placed in recycling bins to avoid contamination.

“We are also adding information tags to recycling bins that contain incorrect items to help residents identify what should be included. The data gathered from this strategy will also help us educate residents on the most common items causing contamination.

“Other programmes include a recycling scheme with Podback which enables people to recycle their used plastic and aluminium coffee pods, both at our Household Waste and Recycling Centres and through door-to-door collections. We also operate a walk-in service at our two HWRCs in Shaw Road and Anchor Lane to give residents more options for dealing with their recycling.

“Residents can find out what items go in their recycling bin at wolverhampton.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/what-goes-my-bins.”

The Local Government Association said households and councils have worked hard to increase the amount of waste recycled, but are held back by manufacturers using unrecyclable packaging.

An LGA spokesman said households have made a “real shift” to ensure they are recycling as much as possible while councils work hard to share information on what can be recycled.

He said: “However, the manufacturers of plastic packaging products are still continuing to create and sell packaging that cannot be recycled and will be put in the recycling bin by people in good faith. The burden then falls on councils to not only collect it and dispose of it, but to pay the extra cost of disposing of it.”

The LGA says councils are trying to achieve net zero with “one hand tied behind their back” as manufacturers continue to produce plastic that cannot be disposed of sustainably.

The national increase in rejected material reported across England is also likely due to China’s ban on all solid waste imports and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures show 44.1 per cent of household waste in England was recycled in 2021-22, up slightly from 43.8 per cent the year before.

Recycling rates fell slightly in Dudley and Sandwell but were slightly up in Wolverhampton and Walsall.

A Defra spokesman said it wants to recycle and reuse more waste, and support households to do so.

He said: “There was an increase in rejected material reported by local authorities in the wake of the pandemic but we have since set a suite of targets to reduce waste, including plastic, glass, metal, paper and food by 2028 through our landmark Environmental Improvement Plan.”

The plan aims to ban the supply of single-use plastics later this year, make some businesses pay to recycle their own packaging by 2024, and introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic and metal drinks containers in 2025.