Telford bins to be checked for recycling

Council snoopers will be sifting through bins in Telford's Woodside and parts of Madeley in a pilot scheme to increase the authority's recycling quota.

The rubbish inspectors will take a note of how many items are in each container.

The council today denied it was an exercise in 'bin snooping' and said the aim of the rubbish review was purely to look at ways to increase recycling.

It comes as figures today revealed more than 30,000 families in the UK had their bins sifted through last year by councils.

The figure is double that of the previous year, despite a coalition pledge to stamp out the practice.

Shaun Davies, from Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "The council recognises the fantastic effort by the community in increasing the amount we recycle in recent years and wants to engage with the community by reviewing its waste and recycling levels in the area.

"This review is a necessary task if we are to ensure that the additional landfill taxes being levied on councils are not passed on to our council taxpayers. I can assure everyone that this is not an exercise to snoop in bins."

Council chiefs say the Government levies a charge of £56 per tonne of waste sent to landfill, which is set to rise by 2014.

Council bosses said residents effected by the review would receive a letter shortly to inform them. The initiative will then be rolled out across the borough to encourage recycling.