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Sandwell bin-spectors to rummage through people's rubbish

Sandwell Council staff will be rummaging through people's bins as part of a scheme to tackle residents dodging recycling.

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Wrong items being placed in recycling bins across the borough is costing the council more than £1 million a year, leading bosses to warn that bins will be left uncollected at the side of the road if it continues.

Around 20 per cent of waste currently collected in blue-lidded bins is not suitable for recycling and chiefs say they are incurring large bills as a result.

Blue stickers will be stuck on bins which have not been emptied as they contain rubbish which cannot be recycled.

They would then be left for a week and only collected if the offending items have been removed.

Letters have been sent to 115,000 households in the borough reminding residents which items can and cannot be recycled using their blue-lid bin.

Bosses are hopeful the message will get through after a pilot scheme in November of 1,500 homes resulted in levels of unsuitable recycling items dropping from 18 per cent to just two per cent.

The cash-strapped council said it is being charged more than £1m a year for rubbish which cannot be recycled to be incinerated or taken to landfill and is prepared to resort to leaving bins unemptied.

Environment boss Councillor Maria Crompton said: "We would really like to thank everyone who's helping recycle more of the borough's waste.

"Unfortunately some people are still putting some wrong items of waste in their recycling bins, which means entire lorry loads of recycling can be rejected at a time.

"Rejected recycling waste ends up being incinerated or going to landfill which means large charges of over £1m a year. These charges are paid for by you through your council tax.

"We have held off taking this kind of action, but I'm afraid we can't wait any longer. We don't want to leave bins unemptied but we need people to use their recycling service correctly and make sure only the right items go in."

In 2014, the council launched a scheme offering cash prizes of £1,000 for residents for putting out their food waste bins in a bingo-style game. It was aimed at increasing the number of families recycling and ran for 12 weeks.

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