Our recycling bins have not been emptied since July, say residents
RESIDENTS in a north Belfast tower block say they have been unable to dispose of any recyclable waste since July after council officials claimed the rubbish was “contaminated”.
The problem affects people living in Mount Vernon House.
Alex Noble, who has lived in the high-rise flats for 25 years, explained that he was forced to contact his local councillors to get the building’s two recycle bins emptied previously.
However, he said the last time that happened was on July 8.
Mr Noble claims the residents’ recyclable rubbish is being dumped along with landfill waste as they have nowhere else to dispose of their reusable materials.
“What they’ve now done is turn the bins around so you can’t put anything in them,” said Mr Noble.
“The reason given for not picking the bins up is that they are contaminated.
“If that is the reason they’re not picking them up, it’s the reason that is always going to be used and if that is the case then recycling is not fit for purpose.
“They need to do something else if that’s not good enough for them in order to get this rubbish picked up and taken away.”
Mr Noble said he inspected the recycle bins along with a Mount Vernon House concierge but neither of them could detect any contaminated waste in the dumpsters. “I put all my recyclable stuff in a plastic bag and when you put it in the bin you take it out of the plastic bag,” he continued.
“I’ve been forced to leave the bag there and one of the concierges at the building has been throwing it in with the waste going to the landfill.
“I think everyone’s recyclable waste is going to landfill unless some people are going and putting in one of the public disposable units. One of the concierges at the building and I opened the bins to see what was contaminating them but we had a good look and we couldn’t find anything.
“I don’t know how they can assert that there’s contaminated rubbish in there.”
A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said: “We are continuing to work with residents of Mount Vernon House to address issues around contamination of waste which has had an impact on collections.
“We encourage residents to report any problems with their collection directly to our team on 028 9027 0230 or online at www. belfastcity.gov.uk/bins.”