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A homeowner has been left furious after catching a bin man putting food waste in with the general rubbish outside his house.
Matt Perry became enraged after witnessing the recycling atrocity on his ring doorbell camera in Maidstone, Kent, claiming it has occurred several times recently and the same bin man is usually responsible.
Mr Perry set about exposing the culprit after previously spotting waste workers tipping his carefully sorted food waste into his household bin.
Ironically the waste truck concerned is emblazoned with the words: ‘Most people in our borough are recycling. Are you?’
Posting the video on a local Facebook site, Mr Perry said it made a mockery of people taking time to painstakingly sort out their rubbish to be recycled.
A bin man was caught on a Ring doorbell putting food waste in with the general rubbish outside an address in Maidstone
The man, dressed in an orange high vis uniform, can be seen grabbing the food waste bin before tipping its contents into the recycling bin
The man then closes the lid of the bin and empties in into the back of the bin lorry
He said: ‘So once again what is the point of recycling? No thought or consideration, just throw the food waste straight into the recycling bin and over our path.
‘Then throwing the food bin back on the floor. Never a separate bin for food. Goes in either the black or green bin always.’
The footage was caught on camera in Maidstone, Kent, where Maidstone Borough Council runs alternating weeks of general waste and recycling, with food waste collected every week.
The food waste is then sent to an Anaerobic Digester (AD) plant at Blaize Farm processing facility, on the A228, near Kings Hill.
Mr Perry’s video was taken in Bower Lane, Maidstone, last week. Mr Perry said that he had seen the man in the video do it before.
‘He also did the same two weeks ago to the next door neighbours,’ he added.
Maidstone’s recycling rate is actually well above average at 52%. The national average is 44%.
Leader of the council, Cllr Stuart Jeffery, said to Mr Perry: ‘This is completely unacceptable and I have reported this to my colleagues at the council. Please let me know of further incidents.’
Ironically the waste truck concerned is emblazoned with the words: ‘Most people in our borough are recycling. Are you?’
One who saw the video added: ‘This has never happened in my street! There is a green bin which they wheel around, tip the food waste into and then empty into a separate container in the lorry! This is terrible!’
Another joked: ‘Here’s me washing out my peanut butter jar.’
And another described recycling as ‘a complete waste of time and effort’ having seen the footage.
A spokesperson for Maidstone Borough Council said they were aware of the video.
‘Maidstone Borough Council is aware of this incident and, along with SUEZ Recycling & Recovery, does not condone the mixing of recycling and food waste,’ they added.
‘Following the incident, the Waste Collection crews have been reminded that this practice is not acceptable and that the Council prides itself on the strong recycling rates of its residents.’