In November 2023, Medway council announced it had paid £57,000 in disposal costs over a 12-month period, due to waste that had been sorted incorrectly.
According to the council 1,042 tonnes of recycling was contaminated, which is a rejection rate of around 17% total so far this year, compared with the 20% rate the council recorded from October 2022 to November 2023.
A Medway council spokesman said: “Information on how different types of waste should be recycled is widely available. Guidelines are printed on recycling bags issued to households and are also available on our website and social media channels. We would encourage residents to check out the information and follow the guidelines to help us recycle their rubbish.”
The council held a meeting of its Regeneration, Culture, Environment Overview and Scrutiny, last November where suggestions were asked to see what the council could do to raise awareness of the issue and reduce the expense, but it has said the problem persists.
Medway council uses an environmental team to spread information about the authorities’ recycling policies to residents through its website and social media pages.
Initiatives
In previous years, Medway council installed recycling bins for small electricals in libraries in the area in an effort to encourage residents to recycle items like kettles, toasters and hairdryers, as research had showed residents found the recycling process “too challenging”.
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