Stoke-on-Trent council employ team of waste checkers

A team of recycling bin inspectors will be issuing ‘warnings’ to householders who are not recycling correctly

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has employed a team of wheelie bin waste inspectors at a cost of £100,000 to help prevent residents placing the wrong waste items in their household recycling bins.

The move has been described as “just another example of the Big Brother state”, by one resident who believes the inspection of household recycling bins is an invasion of privacy.

The team of ‘bin police’ – as dubbed by another frustrated Stoke-on-Trent resident – will be making their way across the area checking householders’ blue bins, which are designated for recycling commingled waste, including plastic bottles and tubs, glass jars, metal cans, aluminium food packaging and squashed cardboard.

Any residents found to be misusing their blue recycling bin will find it labelled with a yellow warning card and they will also receive information leaflets on the correct way to recycle.

Any blue bins that continue to be misused despite the yellow card warnings, will simply not be collected by the council’s waste collection team.

Stoke-on-Trent council claims that the current 15 per cent contamination rate in collected household recycling waste is costing the council £500,000 per year.

Despite being launched just a couple of months ago, Councillor Terry Follows believes the team of waste checkers are a good investment and have already made a difference to the district’s recycling rate, which has apparently seen a recent increase following a five year stagnation and decline.

He added: “We want to educate people around what can be put in recycling bins, save taxpayers’ money and ensure that our recycling rates improve and have a better impact on the environment.”

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