Smoke detected in recycling facility

The smouldering green waste was pulled out of the large pile of mixed recyclable items after smoke was noticed by a staff member.

The emergency alarm was activated, and fire hoses were used to flood the area, meaning all surrounding recyclables were no longer fit for processing and were sent to landfill.

If the grass had ignited, it could have caused catastrophic damage to machinery as well as a safety hazard for staff at the facility.

The incident caused major delays to processing and additional expense to operating costs, as a security guard was engaged to monitor the facility overnight for further hazards.

Residents are reminded that grass clippings and other green waste cannot go in yellow lidded recycling bins. They can go in your general waste bin or be dropped off at council’s waste transfer stations.

Kerbside recycling bins are only for general household packaging such as aluminium cans, steel cans and aerosols, glass bottles and jars, paper, cardboard and magazines, milk and juice cartons and plastic bottles and containers numbered 1-6.

For more information on recycling and waste disposal visit the A-Z to Waste Disposal page