Contamination

"Contamination" refers to non-recyclable items put into the green bin either because residents don't know what can be recycled or hope that the item will be recycled ("Wishcycling").  These items cause issues for the loads of recycling and can often contaminate other items which in turn are rejected (i.e. food waste).  Any items which cannot be recycled are rejected at the sorting plant (EnviroSort) and taken to the Energy Recovery Facility (EnviRecover) at Hartlebury.

The items which most frequently are placed wrongly in the green bin include:

•    Food waste

•    Garden waste

•    Clothes & shoes

•    Nappies

•    Plastic bags

•    Electrical items

•    Wood

•    Metals

•    Plastic bags