A COUNCIL has enshrined a policy that residents’ recycling or rubbish will not be collected if they repeatedly fail to put waste in the correct box.

Hambleton District Council’s cabinet has approved a recommendation to revise its waste and recycling collection policy.

This includes a series of measures which could see council taxpayers refused the key local authority service.

The council said the move was being introduced “to clarify the service the authority now provides and to reduce confusion to the public”, amid concerns residents are unclear about which box to use for some types of waste.

An officers’ report to councillors states the revised policy supports the authority’s aims to achieve a minimum customer satisfaction rating of 90 per cent for its waste collection service, maintain overall kerbside collected waste at 412 kg/ph/year and maintain a recycling rate of 47 per cent.

The report states: “Contamination of recycling containers costs money as it has to be removed from the recycling chain by contractors before the materials can be re-processed.”

Councillors approved the policy – following introducing the rules last year – under which residents will be warned with a leaflet after the first contamination issue and warned with a letter and not have their bin emptied on the second and third times.

The fourth contaminated bin or box spotted at a property will not be emptied and a letter issued informing the resident that the service is being removed.

If after three months the resident wishes to resume the recycling service the council may provide clear sacks for a three-month period in order to monitor the contents.

After that time if contamination continues the service will be withdrawn completely.

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that taxpayers are paying more than 300 per cent extra to clear up fly-tipping in some areas since Hambleton District Council allowed its waste site managers to charge for disposing of soil, rubble and plasterboard.

The council’s cabinet was told the costs associated with removal and disposal of fly-tipped materials had risen significantly for all seven district authorities in the county since North Yorkshire County Council ended free disposal of building-type materials at its recycling centres in 2014.