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Failing to recycle properly has cost some people living in RCT hundreds of pounds.

In total, 12 residents were charged with Failure to Control Waste when their cases were taken to Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, June 21.

They were ordered to pay a collective sum of £6,070.

Nine of the cases were brought due to contaminated recycling, where a recycling bag was found to contain recyclable items soiled by other things – for example, mixing food waste and dry recycling in the same bag.

Two of the remaining residents were prosecuted for problems with their black bag waste, while the other left a fridge freezer out on the road.

The largest individual fine was £440, which was handed out to five people – residents from Llantrisant, Treorchy, Aberaman, Pontyclun and Porth. Each was ordered to pay a total of £762, after costs and victim surcharges were considered.

It follows on from the council’s successful prosecution of nine residents on May 24. They were ordered to pay a collective sum of £2,520 in fines. Again, the majority of these cases were for contaminated recycling.

Nigel Wheeler, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s director for highways and streetcare services, said: “These latest prosecutions, where 12 people have had to pay a combined sum of more than £6,000, again highlight the council’s zero-tolerance approach when it comes to recycling offences.

“Officers have found that contaminated recycling is one of the most common problems when it comes to recycling offences. This is when food or other contaminates are put in the same recycling bag as recyclable items.

“Our recycling rates are ever-increasing in Rhondda Cynon Taff, but if every resident could recycle just one more item it would make a big difference in helping us work towards the 70% recycling target for 2024-25. This is why the council takes such a tough stance when recycling isn’t done correctly.”

Recycling rates are at an all-time high in the county borough, with 64% of overall waste being recycled in 2016 – above the Welsh average of 63% and the Welsh Government target of 58%.

But RCT council says more can still be done as they aim to hit the 70% target by 2024-25 set by the Welsh Government.

For more information about contaminated recycling, and how to avoid it, visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/Resident/BinsandRecycling/Contaminated RecyclingWaste.aspx

For more information about recycling – including what should go in your bins and details about the county borough’s seven community recycling centres, visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk/recycling