Spike in misuse of Sheffield's recycling sites

Sheffield Council and its contractor Veolia said it saw a significant rise in the number of people misusing and abusing recycling sites around the city.

They are based in places including pub and supermarket car parks and allow residents to dispose of any extra recycling they have or materials that are not picked up by home collections such as glass, old clothes, bedding, pots, tubs and trays.

Councillor Paul Wood, executive member for housing, roads and waste management, said: “Local recycling sites are really popular and provide us all with a great service to help recycle household waste.

“A lot of people don’t realise that many of these sites are on private property, with businesses volunteering their land to help Sheffield residents get rid of their waste and recycle. Businesses who house these recycling sites do so to give something back to the city and receive no payment for having them on their land.

“We all have to play our part to keep Sheffield clean and tidy and it’s important to use the bins in the right way. If people abuse them, businesses are well within their right to ask for the bins to be removed.”

The authorities issued a warning and reminder of what is unacceptable following the increasing misuse.

They said: put the correct materials into the correct bins as mixing causes contamination which could make it unrecyclable, take home any waste not accepted or dispose of it at a household waste recycling centre, do not leave any waste on the floor (this is fly-tipping and could result in a £400 fine), flatten cardboard boxes before putting them into a container and take home any bags or containers.

They also stressed that the sites were strictly for residents only and any businesses using them are committing a criminal offence and could face a £50,000 fine and/ or two years imprisonment.

Waste from businesses should instead be paid for through a commercial recycling and waste collection scheme.

Residents using the sites were asked to report any full containers to Veolia on 0114 2734567.

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