SODDEN cardboard and paper are amongst the most common ‘wrong type’ of waste put in blue re-cycling bins in Craven.

Along with plastic bags and bin liners, wet paper and cardboard are not accepted by recycling companies, and can lead to the whole bin being contaminated and rejected.

Households need to be reminded what can and can not be put into recycling bins, heard Craven councillors, if the authority was ever to reach its 50 per cent recycling target and to avoid paying a contamination penalty - triggered when 10 per cent of bins are contaminated.

Councillor Carl Lis, the council’s lead member for greener Craven, told the full meeting of Craven District Council that officers had knocked on doors in areas where there was the biggest problem.

It was also planned to re-start an educational programme of going into schools and talking to children about recycling so they in turn could educate their parents, he said.

He also thought it was time to refresh people’s memories about what could be recycled with a re-issue of information stickers to be put on bins.

The recycling rate for the last quarter of the year is just under 41 per cent with the contamination rate at 9.68 per cent - very near to the trigger rate of 10 per cent  after which the council is charged a penalty fee said Cllr Lis.

“The sooner we can implement our education strategy the better,” he said.

The council’s waste management service continues to support litter collection groups throughout the district, arranging disposal after busy visitor weekends, added Cllr Lis.

“Litter collection and road sweepings have increased around 13 per cent in terms of weight. However, the real impact is an increase in the requests for more frequent litter bin emptying, due to bins overflowing,” he said.

Referring to a recent meeting when two members of Skipton Town Council accused the district council of not doing its job properly, Cllr Lis said he had visited the areas highlighted by the councillors, once with officers, and a second time, unannounced on his own.

“ I can report that I have found the areas in question to be well cleaned and free from any fly tipping issues that were worthy of consideration,” he said.

The council has a new garden waste vehicle and subscriptions for the service have increased in the last year, while trade recycling has increased from three days to four days per week.

Skipton Market has introduced a bagged trade waste collection service with the district council following complaints of market traders using public litter bins.

What can and cannot be put in blue recycling bins:

YES PLEASE:

Glass bottles

Glass jars

Food tins

Drink cans

Aerosol cans

Sweet/biscuit tins

All metal tin and can lids

Foil containers/trays

Food trays

Aluminium foil (clean)

All cartons

Milk/juice cartons

Fabric conditioner cartons

Food/soup cartons

Plastic bottles (inc. tops)

Milk/juice bottles

Drinks bottles

Shampoo bottles

Washing up liquid bottles

Detergent/fabric conditioner bottles

Toiletry/cosmetic bottles

Cleaning/bleach bottles

All Paper

Including

Newspapers and magazines

Catalogues/brochures/directories/junk mail/

window envelopes

Greetings cards (no glitter)

Wrapping paper (no foil/plastic)

All Cardboard

Including

cereal boxes,

ready meal boxes/sleeves,

egg boxes

Kitchen/toilet roll tubes

No bagged waste –loose items only

Items should be cleaned and squashed.

Bottle tops should be placed back on plastic bottles before placing in the bin.

NO THANKS:

Black plastic

Food waste

Paint tins or wallpaper

Toys

Garden furniture

Refuse sacks/bin liners

Cling film or plastic film