Published: Monday 20th April 2020 | 4.32pm
Whilst residents of Cannock Chase are following government guidelines and staying at home, there has been a massive increase in general waste and recycling.
Last week our waste and recycling teams collected 1,105 tonnes of waste and recycling, this is 16% above the amount that is normally collected at this time of year.
A consequence of the increase in waste has been an increase in the number of contaminated loads which have been rejected at the Materials Recycling Facility. We would ask residents to recycle carefully, as a continuation of contamination in the dry recycling (blue bin) could affect the future of the service. We would remind residents that there is an easy to use search facility on our website if you are unsure of which items to put in which bin. https://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/residents/recycling-waste/which-items-go-which-bin
Our recycling crews are checking the blue bins at the roadside and any bin found to have contamination is currently being tagged and left. Crews’ actions in tagging bins has culminated in two serious incidences of aggression and intimidation from residents. There is no excuse for this type of behaviour and in all cases the police will be called immediately. Our crews are trying to prevent contamination occurring at our materials recycling facilities, in order to keep it operating as effectively as possible at this time.
Materials that are put into resident’s dry recycling (blue) bins have to go through at least two hand picking processes at our materials recycling facilities, where employees have to sort through all the discarded materials by hand before the mechanical process begins, including contamination such as; nappies, food waste, used tissues and wipes etc.
Councillor John Preece, Portfolio Leader for Environment said “These are unprecedented times and are difficult for everyone. Most residents are at home with time on their hands so are doing jobs around the house or in the garden, this in turn is producing more waste.
It is therefore more important now than ever that our residents help protect this service and do the right thing and put the right item in the right bin. If in doubt please use the search facility on our website to help you recycle correctly and stop contamination.
“Our crews are working very hard and the majority of residents are extremely grateful. However, I was appalled to hear of the incidents in which our crews were subjected to two separate incidences of aggression and I would warn residents that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
“Keep the smiles, the waves and the cheers coming in and the colourful posters on the bins too. They really do make a huge difference to the morale of our crews.”
During the lockdown our waste and recycling crews have continued to work and collect the general waste, dry recycling and garden waste of Cannock Chase residents. They have had to work extra hours due to colleagues self isolating and off with symptoms. They have been overwhelmed with the support and thanks received by residents and this has kept them positive during this time and we ask that this continues.
We would ask residents to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by taking extra measures and to clean the handles of their bins before and after collections.
The recycling collection crews are operating a zero tolerance towards any recycling container that is seen to contain tissues, wipes, clothing, textiles or other domestic waste. Government guidelines during this pandemic are to place personal waste (such as used tissues) in a bag, which should be tied securely. This should then be put aside for at least 72 hours before disposing in your general waste (green) bin.