Coventry City Council has incurred £900,000 in fines after non-recyclable waste was placed in recycling bins, contributing to a wider overspend in its city services budget, according to a council finance report.
Coventry City Council’s city services department recorded a £1.5m overspend in the three months to the end of September, with £900,000 attributed to contamination charges, a cabinet meeting heard.
The issue was raised after the council’s finance report was presented to members. Conservative group leader councillor Gary Ridley described the figure as “an absolutely enormous” cost and asked what action was being taken in response.
Mark Adams, the council’s acting director of city services, told councillors the fines were particularly high because contaminated waste attracts two separate charges under the council’s current arrangements.
According to a BBC News report, he said: “If anything is contaminated, it has to be turned away, so it is a double charge – we are charged for taking it in and then we are charged for taking it away to another specialist tip that can take the type of waste.”
Mr Adams added that the penalties form part of the council’s contract with the Sherborne recycling facility and have only applied since April.
Councillor Patricia Hetherton, cabinet member for city services, said the council was focusing on improving public understanding of correct recycling practices to reduce contamination.
She said: “It is about education and about making sure that people do understand and know what they can and can’t put in their bins. We are doing a communications activity with pictures rather than words.
“For instance, at Christmas it is about letting people know that they cannot put anything with glitter on in for recycling. It is really important how we manage our waste because it is costing us if the waste is contaminated.”
The report was considered at a cabinet meeting last week.