If in doubt, leave it out

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership are reminding residents in Welwyn Hatfield to take extra care with the waste they put in their brown bin.

Councillor Colin Couch, Executive Member for Environment said: “There’s a problem at the moment with the amount of plastics cropping up in composting loads. If this is spotted at the kerbside, your bin won’t be collected. If the contaminated waste makes it to a recycling facility, the whole load may be rejected and then has to be sent to landfill, which has both financial and environmental consequences.”

Contamination occurs when non-compostable items are placed in the brown bin.

The following can be put into the brown bin:

· All food waste - including food scraps, peelings/bones (both raw and cooked), meat, fish, dairy, bread, fruit, vegetables, tea bags, coffee grounds and egg shells. Paper bags or newspaper can be used to wrap food waste.

· Garden waste - including grass/hedge cuttings, leaves, twigs, small branches (cut up), real Christmas trees (cut up), flowers/dead headings, potted plants (without the pots), woody prunings, weeds, straw/hay.

· Simple, natural cardboard - including brown corrugated cardboard (no sticky tape, parcel tape or adhesives), toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes, cereal packets, shredded paper, cardboard egg boxes (with non-compostable labels removed), paper towels, envelopes (without windows).

The following items contaminate the waste, resulting in non-collection or having to send the waste to landfill:

· All types of plastic. This includes plastic films, black plastic refuse sacks, plastic supermarket carrier bags, plastic flower pots, polystyrene seedling trays and any ridged plastic (such as toys like lego).

· Laminated, waxed and foil lined cardboard packaging (for example ‘Tetra Paks’ - juice cartons or washing powder boxes).

· Textiles

· Treated wood

· Glossy Paper and Magazines

· Glass

· Metal

· Ceramics and Hardcore

· Soil

· Carpets

· Furniture

· Duvets and pillows

· Nappies

· Fire ash

· Dead animals

· Pet faeces

· Hazardous wastes. This includes garden chemicals, asbestos etc.

Councillor Couch continued: “Our residents have really taken to recycling organic waste and it’s a shame that a few people putting the wrong waste in the wrong bins could undo everyone’s great work. Please take a moment to think about whether the right things are going in the right bins. And if in doubt, leave it out!”

Advice about recycling, collections and what can go in different bins is available at Welhat. More advice on recycling is available on Wasteaware.

Hertfordshire Waste Partnership

The Hertfordshire Waste Partnership (HWP) is a partnership between the county council and the ten district and borough councils in Hertfordshire. It was formed in 1992 to coordinate the waste management services provided by Hertfordshire’s councils.

The Hertfordshire Waste Partnership is committed to increasing the amount we recycle in Hertfordshire to at least 50 per cent by 2012, but recycling is only part of the solution. If we reduce the amount of waste we generate in the first place and reuse more household items, we will dramatically lower the amount of waste that needs to be recycled or disposed of.

The 'four Rs' - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover - are all critical in ensuring a sustainable, complete approach to waste management

More advice on recycling is available on Wasteaware.