A significant number of Waipā residents appear to be attempting to sabotage the district’s recycling programme.
In the wake of repeated warnings and blacklisting serial offenders, the council has reported the worst week ever for deliberate contamination.
On Monday, 100 bins out of 270 inspected were found to contain what the council tagged “blatant” non-recyclable material.
Waipā District Council roading operations team leader Jennifer Braithwaite said it was the worst results to date and clearly illustrated the need for full time recycling bin inspectors.
“The inspectors are doing an absolutely fantastic job and have already prevented a huge amount of contamination from being collected.”
The offending recycling bins were not collected, and instead were “stickered’ with details about the unacceptable items.
Items found in the recycling bins this week included rotten food and clothing. Previously it has included items such as medical waste.
To date Council has suspended its recycling service to 22 properties. Once a service is suspended, the property owner is required to make a pledge to Council not to put contamination in their recycling.
If their service is returned, it will be checked prior to every future collection.
