From: Ian blenkharn@ianblenkharn.com
Category: News & information
Date: 25 Aug 2008
Time: 10:40:02 +0200
Remote Name: 86.146.8.18
Safety plea renewed as needles still being put in recycling bins
"A FRESH plea has been made to residents to stop throwing out needles and other clinical waste in the city's green recycling bins. Council chiefs have renewed calls for people not to contaminate recycling with items such as hypodermic needles, bloody swabs and incontinence pads.
"They estimate that around two-and-a-half hours a week are lost in production at the city's Materials Reclamation Facility because the plant has to be stopped while items are cleared from the belts. Mike Trim, head of the city cleansing services, said the problem was getting worse.
“Production is having to be shut down around 10 times a day while this waste is disposed of,” he said.
"We are finding hypodermics, incontinence pads, tubing which has been used in clinical procedures, and bloody swabs.