Earlier today, Ventnor resident Michelle Angell got in touch with a query about waste collection.
She was a bit confused after seeing waste from food caddies being emptied into the back of a rubbish truck along with recyclables from wheelie bins.
The new waste scheme has been in place for over a month now and we’re all used to separating our food waste and recyclables, so it’s not surprising that Michelle was confused by what she saw.
Council said it would be separated later
She said, “On phoning the council to complain they didn’t seem to understand or think it was a problem, they said all waste was combined and separated later, which is understandable but I was thinking that the food was kept separate or it contaminates wheelie bins, and that the wheelie bin contents were recycled separately from the food.”
Mechanical fault with lifting arm
We got in touch with the council to find out why food waste and recyclables were being mixed together.
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said “Food waste and recyclable waste are collected separately under the new scheme. However, Island Waste has informed the council that during a collection round in Ventnor yesterday, one of the waste lorries developed a fault with one of its mechanical bin lifting arms.”
Recyclable waste burnt at gasification plant
They went on to say, “The firm decided that as a safety precaution, the lorry was taken out of service and was replaced with an older lorry that does not have a separate food waste pod, which is why all waste was placed in the back of the lorry on this particular run.
“This waste was taken to the gasification plant in Newport.
“The faulty lifting arm was repaired the same day and the lorry was back in service this morning. This was an isolated incident and we can assure residents that recyclable waste and food waste are separated during collections.”
So, if you were also confused by what you saw yesterday during the rubbish collection, you now know the reason why the two types of waste were mixed.
