Haringey Council is about to get tough with people who persistently put general rubbish in the bins designated for recycling says the Tottenham Journal.

The problem with adding general rubbish to recycling bins is that nothing can then be recycled from that bin, with the contents needing to be burnt or used as landfill; something that no one passionate about recycling wants to see happen.

In the first instance, offenders will find their recycling bin “tagged”, they will then receive a letter from the council telling them what has happened and reminding them what can and cannot be put into the bin.

If residents do not stop contaminating the bin after this letter has been sent then the council will stop collecting the bin. Residents can still clean up their act and reverse this by following the guidelines in the future, but not having a bin collected is very inconvenient in the short term.

Sounds harsh? Maybe, but getting serious about recycling is something that will conserve our environment and help future generations access vital resources.

Haringey has seen a lot of success with their recycling scheme in general.

Recycling schemes across the whole of London are currently going strong, as each borough attempts to reduce wastage. Enfield Borough Council is also trialling something similar but with a “three strikes” rule.

However, with bins being accessible to anyone off the street, how does one stop general rubbish from getting into the recycling bin? Nothing is much worse than having to sift through a bin to retrieve something that someone off the street has put in there. The safety issues that go hand in hand with that will also need to be looked at in order for these sanctions on bins to be 100% fair.

Hopefully these issues will also be addressed by Enfield and Haringey Borough Councils.