Just 6 fruit pips, yet waste bin not collected

LONDON - A Briton was outraged when collection crews refused to empty the recycle bin because of six fruit pips that caused “contamination”, a media report said.

Melvyn Sylvester, 54, found a sticker on his bin saying collection crews would not empty it because it was contaminated with “food”.

He said there were just six melon pips that were dumped on top of an empty pizza box in his recycling bin by a passer-by after he put it outside his home in Andover, Hampshire.

The bin was meant only for paper, card, plastic bottles, tins and cans, Daily Express reported Thursday.

“I was outraged they refused to take our recycled rubbish because of six pips - it was pathetic. The pips must have been put in our bin by a passer-by. They were not our pips. I think they must have come from a melon or grapefruit. We do not eat that. Anybody can go by and put things in your bins,” Sylvester was quoted as saying.

Later, a special collection for the bin was made after Sylvester took out the offending pips.

Test Valley councils collection crews would empty a recycling bin if it contained only minimal material that could not be recycled. But if it contained more significant contamination, the bin would not be emptied and instead an explanatory sticker would be left, a spokesperson said.

This would include bins contaminated with food waste, she said. This is because such contamination could cause a whole vehicle load of recyclables to be rejected at the recovery centre, which would then be sent for incineration or to a landfill site.

This incident is not a solitary case. There have been instances when refuse collectors would not empty a wheelie bin because it was facing the wrong way; and in Coventry bin men have been spotted using measuring tapes to check overflowing bin lids are not open more than quarter of an inch for safety reasons.