Recycling bin contamination
What does recycling bin/bag contamination mean?
A contaminated bin or bag is a recycling that contains either the wrong types of item or dirty recyclable items (e.g. half-full milk bottles).
Recycling crews can only empty recycling bins/bags that contain the correct items and items that are clean.
If the wrong items are put in the recycling bin/bag, it could mean a whole lorry load of recycling is rejected when it goes to the recycling sorting factory as it is contaminated . Contaminated recycling has to then be sent for incineration instead of being recycled. It can also cause delays to our collection rounds and in emptying your bins/bags.
What happens if my bin/bag contains contamination?
Before emptying your recycling bin/bag, crews carry out a quick visual inspection of it to check if it contains the correct items.
If a recycling bin/bag contains the wrong items (contamination), your recycling crew cannot empty that bin/bag.
The crews will leave a hanger/sticker on your bin/bag telling you there’s a problem and you need to remove the item(s) in order for them to empty it on your next scheduled collection day.
If you aren’t sure what item(s) need to be removed you can:
- Check the guide on the bin hanger
- Use the missed bins form on the Council’s website (you need a MySandwell account)
- Have a look at our recycling guide
Once the wrong item(s) are removed, you may need to squash and crush the remaining recycling items to make more bin/bag space until the next collection.
What happens if I have contamination in my bin/bag regularly?
If you place wrong items in your bin/bag on multiple occasions, we may send you a letter advising you what you can put in your blue lid bin and blue bag.
In some instances, a Recycling Support Officer may visit your property to discuss the challenges you are having around putting the right items in the blue lid bin and blue bag and advise you how to recycle right.
Unfortunately, if, after this, you continue to contaminate your recycling, as a last resort we may remove the recycling blue lid bin and bag recycling from your property.
We now provide a free email update service which you may like to subscribe to to recieve useful updates about bin collections.