'Furious' residents film refuse workers tip separate recycling waste into the same bin

It's one thing many households have in common – the fortnightly ritual of putting out the bins for the council to whisk away is one of the most visible signs of what we spend our local taxes on.

However, for some residents in Canterbury, Kent, it proved a bitter experience as they watched refuse workers take their carefully separated recycling and put it into a single bin.

Locals videoed the workers and complained to their council, claiming they watched them combining their recycling into one bin on several occasions.

They said they were so infuriated they would refused to separate their waste when it was merely being mixed up anyway.

Canterbury City Council said they would investigate, but also told them that if they carried out their threat not to bother separating glass, plastic, paper and cardboard, then their recycling would no longer be collected.

The drama unfolded after the council announced last year that checks on recycling bins would be 'ramped up', warning residents that contaminated loads would not be emptied by its waste collection firm, Canenco.

Locals began gathering video evidence and one piece of footage, provided by an anonymous resident, shows workers dumping the rubbish from small red, black and blue bins into a larger red bin before taking it to the lorry.

Neighbours say similar incidents have been seen on several occasions.

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Former binman Martin Johnson, 66, said he was dismayed to see the rubbish being put into the truck together.

"I thought they would put the cardboard in one part of the truck and the rest in the other," he said. "It made me so annoyed that I phoned them."

Johnson, who said there were other occasions when Canenco workers had been caught off camera combining recyclables, contacted the council threatening to refuse to continue separating his recycling when workers later simply mixed it into the same bin.

But the council said that if he did refuse to separate his recycling, his bins would not be collected.

He said: "I told them: 'That’s it. I’m not sorting out my recycling anymore and I’m going to chuck it all into one bin.'

"The lady on the other end of the phone said: ‘Excuse me, sir, we won’t pick it up'.

"It makes me furious. It makes a mockery of our diligence in separating it all."

Canterbury City Council previously revealed that due to 'irresponsible' householders dumping the wrong items into bins, more than 670 tonnes of contaminated recycling had to be sent to landfill across the district in 2021, prompting its crackdown last year alongside a campaign to educate residents about which items go in which bins.

An investigation has been launched into the claims that refuse workers are combining the rubbish, the council confirmed.

Spokesman Rob Davies said: "Clearly it is not acceptable for this to happen when residents have spent their time carefully separating their recycling.

"We thank Mr Johnson for making us aware of these incidents and apologise to him.

"We can reassure Mr Johnson that this will be fully investigated and appropriate action is taken."

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What are the rules on recycling?

According to government figures, the UK recycling rate for waste from households was 44.6% in 2021 - up from 44.4% in 2020.

England's recycling rate for WfH was 44.1%, while Northern Ireland's was 48.4%, Scotland's 41.7% and Wales' 56.7%.

According to the figures, UK biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill increased to 6.8 million tonnes in 2021 from 6.1 million tonnes in 2020.

The government is trying to boost the recycling rates to 65% by 2035, but plans to reform bin collections have come under fire.

Currently, individual councils decide how and when rubbish is collected from households and businesses.

The Environment Act also requires that food waste collection must take place at least once a week.

But proposals to standardise waste collection across England meaning that households could be issued as many as six different bins were met with criticism from councils who branded them "unworkable".

Where does recycling and rubbish from the UK go?

According to government figures, the UK generated 222.2 million tonnes of total waste in 2018, with England responsible for 84% (187.3 million tonnes) of the UK total.

Once collected, household waste is taken to waste treatment facilities including recycling centres, incineration plants and landfill sites, where over 70% of waste ends up in the UK.

According to the BBC, around two-thirds of UK plastic waste is sent overseas to be recycled, with analysis by the broadcaster suggesting that the UK exported 611,000 tonnes of plastic packaging to other countries in the year to October 2018.