PEOPLE who refuse to recycle properly and who are costing Thurrock Council and council tax payers hundreds of thousands of pounds will soon be red-carded.
As from the middle of July (13 July) blue bins that are contaminated with the wrong sort of material will have a yellow tag placed on them, they won’t be picked up and that will be followed up by a personal visit.
“If things don’t improve the following week, an amber tag and personal visit will follow.
“The third week will see a red tag, a personal visit and removal of the bin.”
He added: “That will be it. No recycling at all from that home. If the householder changes their mind they will have to pay for the new bin, it is not an excessive amount, but they will have to pay.”
Specially trained staff will be following up on the yellow, amber and red tags explaining how a little bit of extra thought can save thousands of pounds.
Cllr Rice said: “It just isn’t fair on everybody who recycles properly that they have to pay for this thoughtlessness. It costs us, the council tax-paying people of Thurrock, thousands of pounds a week and hundreds of thousands of pounds a year – that’s hundreds of thousands that could be spent elsewhere on cleaning our streets or more social workers for example.
“People should know by now that we have found more money to put into environmental services – at least temporarily – but people are also moaning and even campaigning about demanding we do more.
“If, instead, they concentrated of making sure their recycling was done properly; if instead they made it clear to their neighbour who receive yellow, amber and even red tags that what they’re doing is unacceptable, then maybe their anger would be better directed.
“Information can be found on thurrock.gov.uk/waste about items that are fit for recycling and those that aren’t.
“This includes recycling tips – like to rinse food containers before putting them out as well as a useful guide on how to recycle popular household items.
“We, the council, want a tidy and good-looking borough; we at Thurrock Council do not want to use your money to pay unnecessarily for waste to be taken away; and we certainly do not want to see the efforts of the vast majority of local people wasted by the thoughtless actions of a few."
