Residents see red over ‘can’t be collected’ warning tags on blue recycling bins

RESIDENTS across Doncaster have raised concerns over a recycling collection system which has been rolled out in new areas.

Doncaster Council has extended its tagging system which allows refuse crews to refuse to empty blue bins if they do not adhere to certain standards, which are listed on a tag attached to the container.

Reasons for refusal include bins having an open lid, containing nonrecyclable items, containing additional bags and being damaged.

The scheme has drawn criticism from residents across the borough, some of whom claim their bins have been wrongly tagged.

A member of the Scawthorpe Neighbourhood Watch group wrote: “We just put cardboard in this week, half full, and I watched them look inside the bin, clip a leaflet on the handle, mark it on a device, and off they went.

“Am I missing something here? It’s no biggie this week, as it’s a small amount, but am I just going to have to use the black bin for all of it now?”

Another resident added: “Don’t bother recycling. About 70 per cent of the blue bins around us haven’t been emptied.

“Apparently, even though it says on waste that it’s recyclable, Doncaster Council can’t deal with it! Grey bin for everything now, to landfill, simples!”

Similar comments were made on Facebook groups for residents in the Woodlands, Adwick, Carcroft, Bentley and Arksey areas of the borough.

In response to criticisms, Doncaster Council has launched a campaign to remind residents what can be recycled.

Cllr Mark Houlbrook, the local authority’s cabinet member for sustainability and waste, said: “We have had to take a firmer stance, so if you find a tag on your bin it means something has been put in there that we can’t accept to be recycled and you need to take it out before it can be collected.”