HOUSEHOLDERS in Bentley, Froyle and Alton have slammed East Hampshire District Council after binmen refused to empty scores of black recycling wheelie bins last week. Residents noticed bin men looking inside their bins and, in many cases, sticking red tags on the handles explaining that they were not prepared to empty the bins because they had found inappropriate items in them. Reports have come to light of plastic food wrappings, dog food bags and cat litter bags, crisp packets, and compost bags being rejected. Many of the items rejected were clearly marked with the recyclable symbol and people are now saying they don't know whether to believe the manufacturers' instructions. Sally Cousins from Froyle said that her bins have been left unemptied twice, once when a refuse man spotted a bottle lid in her bin and again when a compost bag which, sported a triangular recyclable symbol, was refused. "We don't know what we can or can't put in there. It made me angry at first and I rang up and complained. Crisp packets have the recycling symbol, but I have been told they can't go in the bin. They keep changing the rules. "I thought I was good with my recycling – obviously not. I thought if it had the symbol, it could be recycled." Karen Cashmore from Bentley said: "There was a man looking in my mum's bin. There was a lunch box in there but we didn't put it in the bin. My mum said to him, 'why are you looking in my bin?' and he said, 'it's because there's a lunch box in there that shouldn't be in there. They wouldn't take the bin. "She's got the recycling list, so she is conscientious about it. It's disgusting; it's not right and it's heavy-handed." Bentley resident Richard Sutcliffe added: "All that happens is that everyone drives to the tip, but is that helping the environment?" In Froyle, residents at Westburn Fields say they are always careful to put the correct rubbish in the right bins. Pat Young said that last week was the third time bin men had refused to take away her recyclables. "We always do as we are supposed to. We do everything. I wash them and dry them. What else can we do? It's driving us mad because I've been told to just put cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and cans in the black bins, that's all. Even if it has a recycling symbol on it, you can't put it in. So we need a list of exactly what can go in there." "I rang EHDC, because many of us are having to take the rubbish to the recycling centre. I'm going to put it in the green bin and I don't feel guilty about it. The woman at the council said I was within my rights to do that. I'm not carting my bin to Alton. We pay council tax and should have a rebate." Neighbour, Sylvia Gould, is refusing to use her black wheelie bin, which has been rejected twice, preferring to take her recyclables to the tip where they go into the household skip. "I was fuming. I've been doing it long enough to know what goes in and what doesn't. We're very conscientious and we try to do it right. This sort of thing puts people's backs up. I don't know what we're paying for." Ken Carter, district councillor for Bentley, is looking into the issue. "There is variation between the counties on recycling. I have had some complaints, but it's going to be difficult to resolve. There needs to be more public relations work done by the district council and maybe they need to be a bit more communicative." EHDC has been aware of confusion among householders over recycling and has introduced newly-marked refuse and recycling vehicles in the district. Blue and pink panels on the sides of the trucks make statements about the materials that can be collected from black wheelie bins for recycling. The local authority stresses that most residents are good at putting the correct paper, card and cans into their bins but some are still confused about the types of plastics which are acceptable. EHDC said it can only accept plastic bottles for recycling because there is no market in the UK for other plastics. 'Other plastics' include items such as plastic bottle tops, food trays, plastic bags and polystyrene. If there is a significant proportion of the wrong plastic present, the entire load may be rejected, including any paper, card and cans, but plastics not suitable for the black bin can be put in the green refuse bin. EHDC says it is looking into giving residents more precise information and is willing to resolve any issues by visiting or speaking to householders. David Feltham, EHDC's recycling and refuse manager, said that after six years using the current system there is still a challenge in providing information that is simple enough yet detailed enough. "Now, they are keen, possibly too keen, and want to recycle everything, but the infrastructure is not there. It's frustrating all round. It is a battle to get information to residents, but we need to get the message out there," he said. "We have not been heavy-handed because the crews are flexible. It's a battle to keep the quality of material at a high enough level for the Materials Recovery Facility input specification."
