A MAN was caught on CCTV emptying the contents of his own blue bin and dumping the rubbish in a back alley.

It was filmed behind Warrington Street in Little Harwood, Blackburn last week.

The footage shows the man looking inside the bin and then emptying paper and cardboard onto the ground before wheeling it away.

It is now believed the bin was not emptied by the council because it may have contained a pizza box or been ‘contaminated’.

According to Blackburn with Darwen Council, a contaminated bin is a grey, blue or brown bin which contains either the wrong recyclables, or mixed rubbish in it.

Cllr Mustafa Desai who represents Little Harwood and Whitebirk said the council had made huge efforts to clarify the rules to people.

He said: “The issue is one of cross contamination. If the wagon is cross-contaminated then the contents will go to a landfill.

“The council has produced videos in different languages to explain this to people. The difficulty is people are not paying attention to what they put in the bins.

“I had one resident who I met who was concerned that the council workers had not taken his bin. We opened his bin and there were pizza boxes. The blue bin is for clean cardboard and paper. Anything else goes in the burgundy bin. In this case it is not on at all to discard the contents on the ground. If anyone has any concerns ring a councillor or a council officer and we will be pleased to assist.”

The confusion has led to one councillor to ask for further clarification for residents.

Cllr Altaf ‘Tiger’ Patel said: “I think it is wrong he has done this. There is a lot of confusion still for residents and maybe there needs to be more focus on telling people what should go in the bin. People still think things like pizza boxes can be recycled.”

Council advice adds: “If one of your recycling bins is found to contain the wrong items, the crews will leave a hanger/sticker on your bin and leave you with some recycling sacks to tide you over until next collection day.”