Perth and Kinross Council has apologised for leaving residents in the dark about why their recycling bins were not emptied.
A spate of red tags left on unemptied recycling bins baffled residents in the region.
The council is clamping down on contaminated recycling and is reminding residents what items they can disposed of in their blue bins.
Refuse workers do not collect some bins they believe to be ‘contaminated’ with waste that cannot be recycled.
And a red tag is attached, which should detail why the bin was not emptied.
The council has now apologised after some bins were red tagged without an explanation.
Stanley resident Christine Sturdy: “Quite a few residents who had red tickets were not given comments about why their bins weren’t collected.”
Bins tagged despite ‘meticulous’ sorting of waste
Ms Sturdy says council staff have tagged bins despite householders being ‘meticulous’ about sorting their waste.
She recently found a red tag on her bin, having taken care over her recycling.
I was raging.”
Stanley resident Christine Sturdy.
“I’m so meticulous with recycling. I was raging.
“We wash yoghurt pots and I have the beautiful job of washing out sardine tins, for the cats.
“It makes your efforts feel useless.”
Christine had to pay £5 to arrange a further bin uplift.
She maintains “there was no way there was anything in there”.
And although a small number of residents had mistakenly put polystyrene cartons in their blue bin, she said there was a general willingness to get it right.
“Everyone is so careful about what they put in their blue bin.”
Christine says others in the village have had their bins tagged and are “a little bit upset about it”.
Council says ‘stick to the six’
Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has been promoting its ‘stick to the six’ campaign for blue bins.
It says householders can put the following items into blue recycling bins across the council area:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Plastic bottles
- Plastic containers
- Cans and tins
- Cartons
PKC says the amount of contamination found in recycling bins increased during the pandemic.
“Our collection crews are undergoing refresher training to emphasise the importance of checking, tagging and reporting bins which contain the wrong materials,” said a PKC spokesperson.
The council said making householders aware of why staff did not empty their bin was an “important part” of resolving the issue.
“In this respect, we are aware that on a few recent collections in some areas bins have been tagged without detailing what caused the bin to not be uplifted.
“We apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused householders.”
Residents bins sabotaged
However, some Perth residents say they are often powerless to prevent the wrong things getting into their bins.
There have been complaints that people passing by have discarded crisp packets and other non-recyclable waste into bins.
Some individuals have even slung bags of dog poo in with residents’ carefully sorted cardboard and plastic.
PKC says those affected can fit locks to their bins to prevent contamination.
One resident says fly-tippers have “got wise to that” and still manage to “dump anything and everything” in other people’s bins.
The council said it is preparing updated advice about household recycling. It is sending this to residents eligible for the blue bin recycling service.
However, the spokesperson said there had already been a drop in the rate of contaminated blue bins.
And the authority thanked residents for taking the time and effort to sort their recycling.
“Maximising recycling is not only good for the environment but it saves the council money that can then be used to deliver improved services.”
