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Residents in Gloucester are 'fuming' after binmen reportedly left boxes full of recycling because they had been sorted incorrectly.

New changes brought in just weeks before Christmas meant some residents have been confused by the new regime as they adjust to the changes.

All paper and card now has to go in the blue sack, glass only goes into one green bin while plastic, cans, aerosols, foils and cartons go in the other. Food waste goes in the brown caddy.

However scrupulous bin crews have been accused of refusing to empty some boxes because some materials have got mixed up meaning they won’t be collected for another week.

It comes one week after some people put bins out on Monday December 23 only to find they were due to be collected on the Saturday beforehand.

In Longlevens, one woman asked a refuse collector from Amey – the firm employed by Gloucester City Council for waste collection – why one of her green boxes full of plastic wasn’t going to be emptied.

She said she was told it was because there was one solitary piece of cardboard in it.

(Image: Alexander Burrell)

In a post on Facebook, she said: “Thankfully I caught the dustbin men this morning and I could see them empty my two blue bags of cardboard, the box of glass and only one box of plastics/tins and they put a note in the other overflowing box of plastic.

“I went out and asked what the problem was to which I got a shirty remark there's cardboard in there, I looked and one piece of cardboard had gone in the box (probably the kids when helping) and they were going to leave the whole damn box!”

Others were not so lucky.

Another woman said: “What an absolute joke Gloucester council recycling is! Didn't collect mine after being out and all separated! Shared drive collected one side not mine!!

“Rang the council said will be another week and don't leave it out for the week because of vermin!!

“Got told if we run out of room in my recycling bins put it in the black bin!!!

“Why am I bothering do my bit for the environment with that attitude! And that's who we are paying our council tax for! Fuming!!”

And with all the Christmas wrapping paper and boxes some people have found that other solutions for getting rid of waste don’t work.

One resident “spent ages yesterday ensuring it was all separated and because we didn’t have enough of the bags for the cardboard I found a cardboard box and filled it with paper and cardboard”.

It was not collected.

How should I sort my recycling in Gloucester? Previously glass and paper would go in one green box while plastics, cans, foil and aerosols into the other and cardboard into a blue bag. Now, as of December 9, 2019, glass goes into one of the green boxes while plastic, can aerosols, foil and cartons goes in the other. The blue bag now takes paper as well as card. Items with excess food residue will not be collected. Small electrical items –irons, hairdryers, kettles, etc – left on the lid of one of the green boxes can now be collected. The changes are because mixed materials are difficult to recycle, for example, broken glass in with paper; black plastic is not recyclable; batteries have caused fires at recycling facilities in Gloucester.

A Gloucester City Council spokesperson said: “The changes to the recycling service are still in their infancy and we want to work with residents to make sure they get the best value from this service.

“The changes will enable us to be more efficient with the collections, and for sorting processes to become more streamlined. Not only that, but there are increased benefits in the revenue generated from less contaminated recycling.”

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