CHAOS in kerbside bin collections is threatening to undermine the economic case for recycling, experts claim.

Confusion reigns across Scottish homes, with tonnes of rubbish being put in the wrong bins every week.

Two weeks ago we revealed that councils were increasingly visiting homes to lecture people on putting the correct things in bins.

Thousands of the visits have been carried out, but many householders are still nonplussed as to what they can put in their growing number of bins.

And many don’t understand that failing to properly clean out some containers effectively makes waste useless for recycling as the items can’t be processed.

Now experts are warning that while recycling has been a Scottish success story, the problem of contamination is causing growing concern.

The problem leads to green waste being rejected by recycling companies and returned to local authorities which then have to fork out a fortune to dump the waste in landfill.

Just one empty bottle of milk with a trace of liquid still in it can jeopardise the full load being recycled.

And the heavy-handed approach of councils employing bin snoopers to check on what you put in your bins has been blasted by some of the biggest players in Scotland’s recycling industry.

Viridor is one of Scotland’s largest recycling firms, with a contract to handle recyclables from 31 of Scotland’s 32 councils.

It said so-called bin police weren’t working as a sole method of controlling the chaos, adding that the system needs to be “simpler”.

Martin Grey, of Viridor, said: “The public instinctively want to recycle and do the right thing.

“In a recent Viridor poll, eight in 10 people see ‘waste’ as a valuable resource.

“But we need to recognise barriers to recycling, make the system simpler and help people put the right stuff in the right bin.”

He added that councils should look towards using “less stick and more carrot”.

He said: “The so-called bin police only work on a small hard-core group. The majority of people just need educated on recycling.

“It’s about consistent collection systems, communication on what can be recycled and how if we all recycle it can impact the cash available for other council services.

“We’re working with Scottish Government and councils to achieve this.”

Earlier this month, as well as revealing how visits by waste officials had soared, we outlined the complex recycling systems run by different councils.

Some local authorities offer up to six bins while others have just two.

A recent poll by Viridor found:

64% of people are frustrated about not knowing what things they can recycle.
69% would recycle more if the system was simpler.
73% want to know more about what will happen to their waste.
77% would recycle more if they could see how the money saved was being invested in public services at a local level.

Mr Grey added: “On the whole, recycling has been a real Scottish success story.

“But there is a real issue of contamination and the cost to councils – displacing funds from other vital public services.”

Until recently recycling in Scotland had been seen as a success story, with the percentage of domestic recycled materials increasing from 4% to 40% in just over a decade.

The Scottish Government has also been praised for its approach by setting bold and ambitious targets above the rest of the UK.

It hopes households will be recycling 60% of all rubbish by 2020. But those targets are now in jeopardy.

Insiders at recycling plants say private firms are increasingly being forced to send back waste due to contamination.

It costs £84.40 per tonne to dump the material.

Scotland’s environmental watchodg SEPA says it does not know how much waste meant to be recycled has ended up in landfill since 2014.

It expects to publish figures “soon”, and experts say they could be the highest figures yet.

Simon Weston, of the Confederation of Paper Industries, said: “Incentivising people to recycle is better than beating people up.”

Scottish Conservative shadow environment secretary Maurice Golden believes councils could be doing more to profit from recycling, leading to better value for taxpayers.

But he added: “It has to be done in a way that doesn’t reduce the quality of service householders receive.”

A spokesperson for Cosla, which represents most of Scotland’s local authorities, said: “Recycling is important to Scotland’s environmental and climate change ambitions, so councils take it extremely seriously.

“Councils work hard to provide information on recycling because it is in everyone’s interest to reduce contamination.”

In your view

We asked for your comments after our story last week.

It is unreasonable of the councils to only consider emptying household bins once a month.

If you have babies the nappy numbers over the course of a week must be huge.

People are still expected to pay their council tax and seems to me that these cuts are disgraceful.

The councils should consider cutting back on some other departments, not endangering the public and home owners from health hazards connected to overflowing bins.

Margaret Primrose, East Lothian

Sometimes when my bin is emptied they are dumped 20 to 30 yards from where I neatly put them.

Worse, they are sometimes damaged.

Living in Edinburgh I also find it appalling we have to buy the bags to put in our food caddies.

Brian Temple, Edinburgh

The bin system gets more complicated by the year.

Taking out a bag to the bin used to be a chore you’d do on your way out the door.

Now you need to put aside an hour to sort out all the rubbish.

Will the councils compensate us for our time? I think not.

David Wallace, Hamilton

Spare a thought for us living in a tenement-style flat.

With the speed the council is introducing bins we are running out of space in the back garden to store all the extra bins!